WASHINGTON — Robby Fabbri tied it early in the third period, captain Dylan Larkin scored in overtime and the Detroit Red Wings came back to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 Wednesday night.
Larkin beat Vitek Vanecek 1:37 into OT. Adam Erne started the comeback with a goal in the second, and Thomas Greiss made 26 saves for the Red Wings.
Alex Ovechkin scored his eighth goal of the season and Evgeny Kuznetsov his fifth to stake Washington to a 2-0 lead. Ovechkin’s goal was the 738th of his career, putting him three back of Brett Hull for fourth on the NHL career list.
Aside from those two power-play goals, the Capitals looked out of sorts against a less talented opponent and paid the price for a few defensive zone blunders and bad rebounds.
They were lucky to come out of it with a point and have yet to lose this season in regulation. Detroit has won four of its first seven games, showing significant progress in the middle of a long-term organizational rebuild.
Making his fifth start of the season, Vanecek allowed three goals on 25 shots. Detroit’s penalty kill stopped Washington on a power play midway through the third period to help the game get to OT.
NOTES: Filip Hronek returned to the lineup for Detroit, replacing injured D Gustav Lindstrom. Hronek made the move to the net that created Erne’s goal. … Former Red Wings F Anthony Mantha had an assist in his first game against his former team. Washington acquired him at the trade deadline last season. … C Nic Dowd returned for Washington after missing last game with a lower-body injury. With rookies Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre staying in the lineup, F Daniel Sprong was a healthy scratch for the first time this season to make room for Dowd.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Return home to face the Florida Panthers on Friday.
Capitals: Host the winless Arizona Coyotes on Friday.
