WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored the first playoff overtime goal of his NHL career to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Monday night.
Fresh off breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in league history 15 days earlier, Ovechkin’s second of the game 3:26 into OT allowed the Eastern Conference top-seeded Capitals to escape after blowing a two-goal third-period lead. Before letting it slip away, the Caps spent much of the night bullying the smaller, less experienced Canadiens with one big hit after another.
But it was not easy. Pierre-Luc Dubois’ penalty paved the way for Cole Caufield to start Montreal’s comeback bid with 9:28 left in regulation. The Capitals tried to hold on, and a defensive-zone mess allowed Nick Suzuki to tie it with 4:15 left on a shot into a wide-open net after goaltender Logan Thompson slid out to his right and was inadvertently knocked out of the crease by teammate Connor McMichael as he tried to keep the puck out.
Elsewhere in the NHL playoffs on Monday:
---
JETS 2 BLUES 1
WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Mark Scheifele had a goal and assist, Kyle Connor scored his second consecutive game-winner in the third period, and Winnipeg beat St. Louis 2-1 for a 2-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots to help the Jets take a 2-0 playoff series lead for the first time in three seasons. The past two years, Winnipeg won the first game and then lost the next four to be eliminated.
Rookie Jimmy Snuggerud scored his first playoff goal and Jordan Binnington had 20 saves for the eighth-seeded Blues.
St. Louis hosts Game 3 on Thursday.
---
KINGS 6 OILERS 5
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Phillip Danault scored his second goal with 41 seconds to play, and Los Angeles blew a four-goal lead before rallying for a victory over Edmonton in the opener of the clubs’ fourth consecutive first-round playoff series Monday night.
The Kings led 5-3 in the final minutes before Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid tied it with an extra attacker. Los Angeles improbably responded, with Danault skating up the middle and chunking a fluttering shot home while a leaping Warren Foegele screened goalie Stuart Skinner.
Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and two assists in his Stanley Cup playoff debut, and Adrian Kempe added another goal and two assists for the second-seeded Kings, who lost those last three series against Edmonton.
Quinton Byfield, Phillip Danault and Kevin Fiala also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 20 saves in his first playoff start since raising the Cup with Colorado in 2022.
Los Angeles has home-ice advantage this spring for the first time in its tetralogy with Edmonton, and the Kings surged to a 4-0 lead late in the second period in the arena where they had the NHL’s best home record. That’s when the Oilers woke up and made it a memorable night: Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry scored before Hyman scored with 2:04 left and McDavid scored an exceptional tying goal with 1:28 remaining.
McDavid had a goal and three assists for the Oilers, who reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season. Skinner stopped 24 shots.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
---
STARS 4 AVALANCHE 3 (OT)
DALLAS (AP) — Colin Blackwell scored 17:46 into overtime and Dallas beat Colorado in Game 2 to even up their first-round Western Conference series.
Blackwell took a shot that was blocked in front of the net by a teammate, but with the loose puck wobbling on the ice, he circled around and knocked it into the top of the net for the winner.
Tyler Seguin, Thomas Harley and Evgenii Dadonov also had goals for Dallas, which avoided losing the first two games in its opening-round series for the second year in a row. The Stars did open with their eighth consecutive Game 1 loss since 2022, after going into this post-season with a seven-game losing streak.
Colorado had finished the final 1:24 of regulation and first 34 seconds of overtime on a power play after a hooking penalty against Mikko Rantenen, who the Avalanche traded on Jan. 24 to Carolina in the East, where he played only 13 games before getting traded March 7 back to the Central Division to Dallas and getting a new US$96 million, eight-year contract.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 34 shots. Mackenzie Blackwood had 35 saves in his second career playoff game, but the final shot went over his left shoulder.
Nathan MacKinnon scored on a power play for his third goal in this series for the Avalanche, and his 51st in the NHL playoffs. Jack Drury and Logan O’Connor also scored.
The series switches to Denver for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
The Associated Press
