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National Hockey League
Washington 6, Vancouver 5
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, October 25, 2019
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen: Brian Mach, Bevan Mills
Attendance: 18871

Nicklas Backstrom scored the game-winner in the third round of the shootout as the visiting Washington Capitals rallied from a four-goal deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-5, on Friday night.

Backstrom fired a wrist shot inside the left post for the 11th shootout winner of his career. T.J. Oshie scored in the first round for the Capitals, but Elias Pettersson evened things up in the second round to set the stage for Backstrom's game-winner.

Michal Kempny and Evgeny Kuznetsov each scored two goals, and Lars Eller added a short-handed goal and an assist. Washington scored the final four goals of regulation over an eight-minute stretch that began with one second left in the second period. Rookie Ilya Samsonov had 29 saves.

Tim Schaller scored two goals, and Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist to lead the Vancouver. Pettersson and Jake Virtanen also scored goals, and Bo Horvat added two assists for the Canucks. Jacob Markstrom finished with 24 saves.

Washington, playing the second half of a back-to-back that started with a 4-3 overtime loss at Edmonton on Thursday night, jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 3:18 mark of the first period. Kuznetsov took a pass from Jakub Vrana while cutting in front of the net and beat Markstrom with a wrist shot on his blocker side.

Vancouver then scored five consecutive goals to go up 5-1. Boeser started the streak with a power-play goal at 5:33, and Schaller followed two minutes later with a short-handed goal to give the Canucks a 2-1 edge after the first period.

Pettersson made it 3-1 early in the second period with his third goal of the season. Schaller then batted in a rebound at 13:59 for his third of the year, and Virtanen followed 55 seconds with his second of the season.

But Kuznetsov cut it to 5-2 with a wrist shot that just beat the buzzer to end the second period and start Washington's comeback.

The Capitals scored three goals in the first 7:41 of the third period to tie it, 5-5. Eller got the first with a short-handed goal at 1:57, and Kempny followed with two goals just 2:44 apart. Both came on slap shots from the left point that beat Markstrom on his glove side, giving Kempny the first multi-goal game of his career.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Vancouver
Michal Kempny 2 Points Tim Schaller 2
Michal Kempny 2 Goals Tim Schaller 2
Lars Eller 1 Assists Bo Horvat 2
N/A Power Play Goals Brock Boeser 1
Lars Eller 1 Short Handed Goals Tim Schaller 1
Ilya Samsonov .853 Save Percentage Jacob Markstrom .828
Ilya Samsonov 29 Saves Jacob Markstrom 24
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Washington 29 6 0-2 4-5 10 24
Vancouver 34 5 1-5 2-2 4 36
Upcoming Games
  • Vancouver will play their next game at home against Florida. The Canucks have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Capitals have a W/L % of .625 after a win and .600 after a loss.