Detroit Red Wings Jump On Washington Capitals Early In Route To 4-2 Win, Alex Ovechkin Gets Within 25 Goals Of Setting NHL Record; Nic Dowd Hits 10-Goal Mark For Fifth Consecutive Season

by

Photo: @Capitals

The Detroit Red Wings downed the Washington Capitals by a score of 4-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday evening. Washington fell to 24-10-2 (.694 points percentage) this season. Washington, who beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2, on Saturday, won three of their previous four games while Detroit played their second contest under head coach Todd McLellan. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves in the loss.

Washington’s Lines

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Jakub Vrana
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Taylor Raddysh

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Lindgren
Logan Thompson

  • Scratched
    • D Dylan McIlrath
    • D Alexander Alexeyev
  • Injured
    • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
    • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
    • RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Eller was activated off of injured reserve after missing four games due to illness and Hendrix Lapierre was assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears prior to puck drop.

Detroit’s Lines

Joseph Veleno — Dylan Larkin — Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat — Andrew Copp — Patrick Kane
Jonatan Berggren — J.T. Compher — Vladimir Tarasenko
Michael Rasmussen — Marco Kasper — Tyler Motte

Ben Chiarot — Moritz Seider
Simon Edvinsson — Jeff Petry
Erik Gustafsson — Justin Holl

Alex Lyon
Cam Talbot

  • Scratched
    • D Dylan McIlrath
    • RW Christian Fischer
  • Injured

First Period

Scoring

  • 3:19, 1-0 Detroit: Chiarot wristed one over the glove of Lindgren from above the left dot with DeBrincat screening Lindgren in front after he got a feed from the top by Seider.
  • 6:44, 2-0 (PPG): Kane stepped in and snapped one over the glove of Lindgren from the right dot after getting a pass by Gustafsson from the top. The point was the 1,299th of Kane’s NHL career.
  • 12:04, 2-1: Ovechkin one-timed a shot from the left dot after Chychrun cut to the middle and got a feed from McMichael from the top and set up Ovechkin. The goal was the 870th of Ovechkin’s career, 25 shy of passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. Ovechkin has goals in each of the last four games he has appeared in (seven). Chychrun has recorded 16 points (five goals) in his last 16 games dating back to November 25, the most on the Capitals in that span. Ovechkin’s 17 goals in his first 20 games of 2024-25 are tied for the second most he has scored in his first 20 games of a season in his career (2009-10: 18; 2013-14: 17). Ovechkin, 39, is in his 20th NHL season.
  • 12:35, 3-1: Copp pressured Roy behind the net before Kane fished out the loose puck, took it the front, and laid a feed to DeBrincat at the front. DeBrincat buried it over the blocker of Lindgren.
  • 14:18, 4-1: Raymond ripped a wrist shot from the slot with Lindgren down and out after Larkin threw a pass to him from the side of the goal.

Stats

  • 13-5 Detroit in shots
  • Detroit scored once on two power plays
  • 7-2 Washington in hits
  • 5-2 Detroit in blocked shots
  • 6-2 Detroit in giveaways
Graphs: Natural StatTrick

Second Period

Scoring

Stats

  • 19-17 Detroit in shots
    • 10-6 Washington in second period
  • Detroit had four power plays through 40
    • Washington did not score on their first two
  • 15-7 Washington in hits
  • 9-7 Detroit in blocked shots
  • 8-5 Detroit in giveaways

Third Period

Scoring

  • 10:27, 4-2: After Van Riemsdyk threw the puck to the front and his shot was blocked, Raddysh got the puck, waited, and sent it towards the cage again from the goal line. Dowd battled for the puck with Kasper in front, dove, and put it over the left pad of Lyon. Dowd reached the 10-goal mark for the fifth-straight season in 36 games (the fastest Dowd has reached the 10-goal mark in his career — previously in 39 in 2022-23).

Stats

  • 28-27 Washington in shots
    • including 13-7 in the third
  • Washington did not score on three power plays
  • 21-11 Washington in hits
  • 18-9 Detroit in blocked shots
  • 12-11 Detroit in giveaways

Washington remained a point behind the New Jersey Devils (with three games in hand) for the Metropolitan Division lead and five ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (with both teams having played 36 games after Sunday night).

Next game: Tuesday vs. Boston Bruins (12:30 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077

Leave a Comment