Schmidt's two late goals carry Knights past Caps
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[December 05, 2018]
Nate Schmidt scored his first
two goals of the season, including the game-winner on a power play
with 1:25 remaining, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the
Washington Capitals 5-3 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Schmidt fired a wrist shot from the top of the slot past the glove
hand of Washington goalie Braden Holtby to break a 3-3 tie, then
added an empty-net goal with 6.9 seconds left to seal the victory.
It was the first meeting between the teams at T-Mobile Arena since
Washington clinched its first Stanley Cup with a 4-3 victory in Game
5 on June 7. The teams had met in D.C. on Oct. 10 when Washington
scored a 5-2 victory.
Cody Eakin had a goal and an assist and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and
Ryan Reaves also scored goals for Vegas, which won for the sixth
time in seven games. Oscar Lindberg finished with two assists, and
Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves to pick up his 15th win of the
season.
Jakub Vrana scored two goals and Alex Ovechkin also scored for
Washington, which had a four-game road winning streak snapped. Brett
Connolly added two assists, and Holtby finished with 23 saves.
Ovechkin became the sixth player in NHL history to score at least 20
goals in each of his first 14 seasons in the league. The record is
17, held by Marcel Dionne, Mats Sundin and Jaromir Jagr. Mike
Gartner (15) and Michel Goulet (14) also accomplished the feat.
Reaves gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead just 2:30 into the game
with a power-play goal. He fired a pass from Eakin from the front of
the goalmouth into the upper right corner of the net for his sixth
goal of the season, just one off his career high.
Washington tied it 13 minutes later on Vrana's first goal of the
night. The tally snapped a home shutout streak of 158:21 by Fleury,
who had blanked Calgary and San Jose in his two previous home
starts.
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Washington Capitals center Chandler Stephenson (18) and Vegas Golden
Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland (5) reach for a puck during the
third period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R.
Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Ovechkin made it 2-1 midway through the second period. Connolly's
blast from the right point ricocheted off the boards behind the net
right to Ovechkin standing alone by the left side of the net, where
he backhanded a shot past Fleury.
The Golden Knights scored two goals just 16 seconds apart early in
the third period to take a 3-2 lead. Bellemare scored the first on a
deflection of a Brayden McNabb shot from the left point. Eakin
followed with a rebound of a Lindberg shot for his team-leading 11th
goal of the season and his 200th career point.
Vrana tied it 3-3 with his second goal of the game and eighth of the
season, slapping a shot from the top of the slot past Fleury at
11:40. Nic Dowd then picked up a double minor penalty for
high-sticking McNabb and drawing blood at 14:46, setting the stage
for Schmidt's game-winner.
--Field Level Media
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