The Washington Capitals entered Wednesday's game with the Detroit Red Wings with plenty of history with them. The Caps were in the midst of a nine-game winning streak, third-longest in franchise history, a six-game road winning streak, tied for the longest, and without a win in Detroit since 2003. At the end of the game, only the last one stood.
The Caps and Red Wings traded goals all night, but at the end, Detroit would prevail in a 3-2 win.
Henrik Zetterberg had two goals for the Red Wings, but none more important or impressive than the game-winning goal. With Mike Knuble in the penalty box for tripping, Zetterberg powered into the offensive zone and somehow found a way to sneak in a backhand past Michal Neuvirth, who was anchored to the left post. The puck would deflect off of the back of Neuvirth's mask and Zetterberg's 20th goal of the season at 9:53 came at the right time.
The Caps would pull Neuvirth in favor of an extra attacker and Alexander Semin would beat Jimmy Howard with his snap shot, but it would hit the post and bounce away. And with the bounce went the Caps' nine-game winning streak.
John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin scored for the Caps, but it wasn't enough. The Caps will now head to New Jersey to take on the Devils Friday in a matchup between two of the hottest teams in the NHL.