Justin Abdelkader scored twice in the third period to help the Detroit Red Wings rally for a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Abdelkader broke a 2-2 tie when he took a drop pass from Pavel Datsyuk and beat Braden Holtby from the left circle at 10:34 for his fifth goal of the season. Detroit tied it at 4:04 when Abdelkader scored off a Washington turnover in the slot.
Datsyuk added a power-play goal in the final minute. Gustav Nyquist also scored — off an assist from Abdelkader — and Henrik Zetterberg had two assists. Jimmy Howard made 25 saves.
Troy Brouwer and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for Washington, which has lost three of four.
Alex Ovechkin failed to score a point for the fifth straight game, the longest drought of his career.
Holtby stopped 18 shots and had an assist.
PHOTOS: Red Wings rally to beat Capitals 4-2 win
Datsyuk’s goal ended a streak of 23 Detroit power plays without a goal.
The top line of Abdelkader, Zetterberg and Nyqvist has accounted for 13 of the team’s 22 goals this season
The Red Wings opened the scoring midway through the second period following a Washington turnover. Abdelkader got the loose puck and fed Nyquist, who was alone in front of the net. Holtby made a pad save, but Nyquist banged in his own rebound for his fifth goal of the season.
After the Capitals failed in their first three attempts against Detroit’s penalty killers, Holtby helped them break through.
The Washington goalie sent a pass to Ward at the Red Wings’ blue line. Ward then fed a streaking Kuznetsov, who had gotten behind the defense and he beat Howard high to tie it.
The Capitals took a 2-1 lead with 58 seconds left in the period when Brouwer one-timed John Carlson’s pass home from the left circle.
The Red Wings managed only three shots on goal in the first period, to eight for the Capitals.
A goal by Detroit’s Drew Miller was negated by penalty on Luke Glendening for goalie interference at 6:22. On the replay, it appeared Holtby tripped coming back from behind the net and wasn’t touched by Glendening.
NOTES: Ovechkin had gone without a point in four games four previous times. … Prior to the national anthem, a photo of former Red Wings great Gordie Howe was shown on the scoreboard. Loud applause followed as the public address announcer conveyed the Capitals’ best wishes to Howe, who had a stroke Sunday. … Capitals F Tom Wilson made his season debut after missing eight games while recovering from a broken left ankle.
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