OTTAWA, Ontario — Kyle Turris knows that the Ottawa Senators cannot afford to lose many points in the standings at this point in the season, so he shook off some fatigue and got the job done.
Turris scored on a breakaway at 3:14 of overtime to lift the Senators over the Washington Capitals, 4-3, on Saturday night, denying Washington a chance to clinch a playoff spot.
The win comes despite Ottawa blowing a three-goal lead.
“I’m just glad [the rink] is not Olympic size,” Turris said, “I was a little gassed at the end of the shift and I was just trying to get speed through the neutral zone and put myself position where I could get a good shot off and not be caught.”
Turris stripped the puck away inside his own blue line before racing down the ice and beating Braden Holtby through his legs.
Clark MacArthur, Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad had first-period goals for the Senators, who remain in contention for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
Marcus Johansson, Mike Green and Troy Brouwer scored in regulation for the Capitals. Holtby, who started his 22nd consecutive game, tying him with Wayne Stephenson for most consecutive start in Capitals’ history, finished with 24 stops.
Ottawa is in ninth place — three points back of the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. Boston holds the second and final wild-card spot. The Senators, Penguins and Red Wings all have four games remaining while the Bruins have just three.
Erik Karlsson had two assists in the win and Andrew Hammond made 29 saves to improve to 17-1-1.
“You never like to give up three-goal leads, obviously, but we didn’t really back off, we just had some mishaps that cost us three goals,” Stone said.
“You try not to change your mindset but it’s part of the game. You get up like that you feel a little more comfortable.”
After falling behind 3-0 after the first and then entering the third down 3-1, Green scored at 7:18 to trim the gap. Brouwer then tied the score at 15:50 to force extra time.
“Obviously, I’d like to get the extra point and get it done and go from there, but it didn’t happen when we went to overtime,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.
“We were down 3-0 to a team that’s been really good for a long time here. I take the positive out of the point. We could have left here with nothing.
Johansson had the lone goal of the second period to get Washington on the board. The Capitals controlled the puck in Ottawa’s zone for long stretches while outshooting them, 12-7, in the period. They also got the only power play of the second but failed to score while registering just one shot.
Stone opened the scoring at 3:21 of the first when he beat Holtby high glove side from the faceoff circle.
Washington got into penalty trouble when it took three minor penalties in a span of 88 seconds giving the Senators a pair of extended 5-on-3 opportunities.
MacArthur scored at 9:03 with a near identical shot from almost the exact spot as Stone earlier in the period. Just 53 seconds later, the Senators went up 3-0 when Zibanejad scored on a one-timer from the side of the net off Bobby Ryan’s pass.
During the extended power play Ottawa had six shots. The Senators didn’t have a power play the rest of the game.
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