Red Wings 4, Capitals 3 (SO)

[February 01, 2014]  DETROIT — Red Wings 4, Capitals 3 (SO): Patrick Eaves scored the lone goal in the seventh round of the shootout and Detroit celebrated the 3,000th home game in franchise history by outlasting Washington.

Drew Miller, defenseman Danny DeKeyser and Gustav Nyquist scored goals as the Red Wings posted their third shootout victory in the last seven games. Jimmy Howard returned from a four-game injury absence to make 26 saves and deny all seven attempts in the bonus format as Detroit halted a two-game skid (0-1-1).

The Capitals wasted a dramatic tying goal by captain Alex Ovechkin with seven seconds left in regulation to suffer their third straight defeat (0-1-2) and 10th loss in 12 games (2-6-4). Michal Neuvirth made 42 saves and stopped the first six shots in the shootout while Jason Chimera and Casey Wellman also scored goals for Washington.

The Capitals tied it at 8:09 of the third when Wellman followed up his own rebound, but Nyquist put the Red Wings back ahead two minutes later by pouncing on an awful giveaway by defenseman John Erskine and whistling a wrist shot past Neuvirth for his fifth goal in six games. Ovechkin knotted it with the clock winding down, hammering a slap shot past Howard for his league-high 39th tally.

Detroit scored twice in the second period to erase a one-goal deficit, with Miller tying it off a wild scramble after Neuvirth came way out to foil his initial breakaway chance. DeKeyser put the Red Wings ahead with 1:39 left in the session, hammering a one-timer from the point off a faceoff.

NOTEBOOK: Detroit had an overwhelming 22-5 edge in shots in the first period, but Washington scored the only goal when C Nicklas Backstrom reached 40 assists for the sixth time in seven seasons with a perfect pass that Chimera steered in at the left post on the power play at 15:24. ... Capitals D Mike Green sat out with an upper-body injury sustained when he was checked into the boards in Thursday's game at Columbus. ... Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg returned after missing two games with a back injury and had three shots and a missed chance in the shootout.

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