Capitals vs Red Wings: How the Game Was Won

"None of those attempts were as important as Nic Dowd's. Yes, that Nic Dowd, who had never even been in a shootout before let alone scored in one and yet somehow scored a pretty nice goal to give the Caps the win. But Dowd wasn't just a shootout hero tonight; he also started the scoring for the game. After the Red Wings' first goal was waved off, the Caps came alive."

"Ryan Leonard was able to win his puck battle and get it to Dowd, who sent it to the point to Trevor van Riemsdyk. TvR's shot went wide and around the boards, where a Red Wings player tried to slap it past Jakob Chychrun and failed. Connor McMichael then picked up the loose change and fed it to Dowd at the top of the circles, who skated it to the dot and ripped a shot through a screen into the back of the net."

The Capitals won 4-3 in a shootout over the Red Wings after a late Detroit rally erased a 3-1 Washington lead. Nic Dowd opened the scoring and later scored the decisive shootout attempt despite never having been in a shootout before. A key shift began with Dowd's big hit on Ben Chiarot, Ryan Leonard's puck battle win, a Trevor van Riemsdyk point shot that produced a loose puck, and Connor McMichael feeding Dowd for a screened shot into the net. Washington converted all three shootout attempts and earned the victory after overtime. The team looks to build momentum from the win.

Read at Japers' Rink