Halloween isn't for two days, but the first period was the Washington Capitals' worst nightmare.
The Vancouver Canucks fired 17 shots on Tomas Vokoun and put three past him as they lead the Caps 3-1 at the end of the first period.
Maxim Lapierre scored his second goal of the season at 3:31 off a miscue by Vokoun. Kevin Bieksa's dump-in attempt ricocheted off Dale Weise's stick and behind the Caps' net. Vokoun went behind the net to play the puck, but since it was close to the edge of the trapezoidal area where goalies are prohibited from playing the puck, he hesitated. Lapierre picked off Vokoun's weak poke check and his sharp-angle shot banked off Vokoun's skates and into the net to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, Alex Ovechkin's fourth goal of the season tied the game at 1-1 on another advantageous bounce. Ovechkin crashed the net to pick up a rebound attempt and got enough of his stick on it to send it over Roberto Luongo's head. The puck bounced off Luongo's back and rolled into the net at 8:55.
The Canucks regained the lead at 13:17 on the power play. With Joel Ward in the box for high-sticking Ryan Kesler, Christopher Higgins received the puck behind the net and attempted a wraparound shot. Vokoun made a sprawling leg save on Higgins' initial attempt, but the rebound came right back to Higgins, who had no one around him. He then beat a downed Vokoun for his fourth goal of the season.
Alexander Edler made it 3-1 with just four seconds left in the period five seconds into their third power play. Edler's slap shot from the point beat Vokoun top shelf. The Canucks are 2-of-3 on the power play.
Vancouver's 17 shots are just two less than the 19 total shots Washington allowed against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday