The Washington Capitals snapped a two-game losing streak on Monday night with an impressive road win against the Detroit Red Wings. The Caps took a three-goal lead to the third period, but they put only three shots on goal in the third and the Wings rallied to make it interesting in the final five minutes.
Alex Ovechkin's two power play goals helped build a 4-1 lead after the first two periods, but Todd Bertuzzi cut into that margin just 30 seconds into the third with his 13th goal of the season. Danny Cleary cut the lead to one with a dunk in front that beat goaltender Braden Holtby. With a lot of traffic in front, Brendan Smith centered the puck to Justin Abdelkader who poked it through the legs of Holtby. The puck deflected over to the far post where Cleary was waiting to easily slam it home. It was his first goal in 15 games and put the pressure on the Caps as it closed the three-goal lead to just one.
A questionable penalty call on Mike Knuble with three minutes remaining added to the pressure but it became four-on-four hockey a minute into the power play as Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg was sent to the box for holding Mike Green. With Knuble out of the box and Jimmy Howard out of the net, Jason Chimera would clinch it with an empty net goal with just 20 second remaining. Chimera worked the puck up the wall to beat Detroit through the neutral zone and wrap up the win. Now having swept the season series with Detroit, the Caps travel to Philadelphia to face the Flyers on Thursday night.
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