Alex Ovechkin scored twice, and the Washington Capitals rallied past old coach Bruce Boudreau and the Vancouver Canucks 6-4 on Monday night for their second consecutive victory.
Ovechkin’s first two goals of the season, 56 seconds in and with 2:58 left in regulation, bookended the Capitals blowing a lead and coming back. Dylan Strome got the comeback started with a power-play goal early in the third, continuing his strong start with his new team, before John Carlson tied it and Conor Sheary put the Capitals ahead.
Winger Connor Brown, a newcomer like Strome, exited with an apparent right leg injury after going into the boards awkwardly early in the third. The team said Brown had a lower-body injury.
Down a skater, the Capitals were still able to get back into the game with goals from Carlson with 11:17 left in regulation and Sheary with 7:16 remaining, avoiding what would have been their worst four-game start in nearly a decade.
They spoiled Boudreau’s latest chance to reach 600 career regular-season NHL wins. Despite a goal and two assists from Elias Pettersson, the Canucks blew a two-goal advantage for a third consecutive game, all losses, to start the season 0-3-0.
Washington’s Darcy Kuemper rebounded well after whiffing on the puck on a bad bounce to give Pettersson a gift goal with 7.3 seconds left in the first. He finished with 26 saves.
Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko allowed six goals on 30 shots.
Lars Eller also scored for Washington, taking advantage of a big bounce off the end boards 8 seconds into the second.
NOTES: Evgeny Kuznetsov played for Washington after missing the morning skate and being considered a game-time decision. He took the high-sticking penalty that paved the way for Miller’s goal. … Ovechkin’s goal was the 11th of his career in the opening minute of regulation. Only Sidney Crosby and Mark Messier with 13 and Dave Taylor, Phil Esposito and Gordie Howe with 12 have more. … Canucks defenseman Tucker Poolman was out with an undisclosed injury.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Make their fourth stop on a five-game trip Tuesday night at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Capitals: Travel to Canada’s capital to face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
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