Schmaltz scores shootout winner to send Utah over Capitals
Published
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nick Schmaltz scored the shootout winner, leading the Utah Hockey Club to a 5-4 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther each had a goal and an assist, and Michael Carcone and Jack McBain also scored for Utah, which has won three of its last four games. Utah jumped out to an early lead when Doan scored just over a minute into the game and Carcone scored 32 seconds later.
Connor Ingram had nine saves on 11 shots before leaving the game due to an upper-body injury. Karel Vejmelka stopped 30 of 32 shots in relief and all three shootout attempts for Utah.
Tom Wilson scored twice, Alex Ovechkin had three assists and Dylan Strome and Pierre-Luc Dubois added goals for Washington, which has lost three of its last five games. Logan Thompson, who entered the game ranked second in the NHL in save percentage, made 24 saves.
Takeaways
Utah: Dylan Guenther continues to be a force on offense, extending his point streak to four games. He has seven points in that span and reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.
Capitals: After going three straight games without a power-play goal, Washington went 2 for 2 with a man advantage.
Key moment
After a late rally by Washington forced overtime and an eventual shootout, Nick Schmaltz deked Thompson and beat him high on the stick side.
Key stat
Alex Ovechkin didn’t inch closer to Wayne Gretzky’s scoring record, but his three assists extended his point streak to five games and moved him past Phil Esposito for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time point list.
Up next
After a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Capitals are at Pittsburgh on Feb. 22. Utah is at Los Angeles, also on Feb. 22.
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