Mission accomplished — well, one of them, anyway.
The Red Wings made sure Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin didn't tie Detroit legend Gordie Howe on the all-time goals list, but in the primary focus — winning a hockey game — came up short.
Detroit blew a pair of leads at the Capital One Center in Washington on Monday night, ultimately pushing losing streak to six as Dmitriy Orlov scored with 22 seconds remaining in overtime to hand the Red Wings a 4-3 loss.
Ovechkin, currently on the hunt for goal No. 801, hit a post in the second period of Detroit's win, coming up short with the Gordie's sons, Mark and Marty, in attendance at the Capital One Center in Washington.
David Perron, Oskar Sundqvist and Lucas Raymond each scored a goal for the Red Wings (13-11-7), as goaltender Ville Husso stopped 34-of-38. Nic Dowd scored twice in 11 seconds for the Capitals (17-13-4), Nicolas Aube-Kubel had two assists and Erik Gustafsson added a third goal.
The Wings showed encouraging bounce-back after Saturday's home collapse against the Ottawa Senators. Perron kicked off the scoring at 7:30; Michael Rasmussen and Dylan Larkin teamed up on the forecheck and Larkin swatted the puck right to Perron, who scored his seventh of the year with a nifty backhand near the goal mouth that zipped over the shoulder of Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
Later in the first, Detroit scored on the power play — an area of focus at practice Sunday after the team had gone 2-for-20 in the six games prior. Rookie Jonatan Berggren found a seam in the slot to set up Oskar Sundqvist, who made it 2-0 at 15:36.
Washington had a 17-7 shots advantage in the second period, where Ovechkin nearly drew even with Howe's goal mark. With the Caps on a power play, Ovechkin tried a short-side backhand but hit the post.
Washington clearly wasn't discouraged by yet another close call in the offensive zone, though. Dowd scored two goals in a span of 11 seconds to draw even.
On the first, Dowd trailed on a three-man rush, received a pass from Ovechkin on his way into the zone and toe-dragged Raymond before beating Husso with a wicked snapshot from between the circles. Washington dumped it in immediately after winning the ensuing faceoff, leading to a point shot from former Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen that Dowd redirected into the net for his second goal in 11 seconds, just one tick shy of tying a Caps franchise record.
Detroit took a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Raymond, who had scored just one goal in his last 16 games entering Monday, scored his eighth of the season at 4:49 after receiving a pass from Andrew Copp on a 2-on-1.
Less than a minute later, though, the Capitals answered. Both Rasmussen and Larkin shadowed Aube-Kubel in the slot, leaving Erik Gustafsson all alone for a bang-bang play on the back doorstep at 5:59.
Trading day
Hours before Monday night's game in Washington, the Red Wings made a trade — two, actually.
In a three-way swap of players all currently in the American Hockey League, Detroit sent forward Givani Smith to the Florida Panthers for defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who they then flipped to the Anaheim Ducks for 28-year-old center Danny O'Regan.
O'Regan was drafted by the San Jose Sharks with pick No. 138 in 2012, spending most of his pro career in the minor leagues. He played five games with Anaheim a season ago but has only played eight NHL games dating back to the 2017-18 season. With the AHL's San Diego Gulls, O'Regan had three goals and 15 assists in 27 games this season.
Smith, a 24-year-old who was taken with a second-round pick by Detroit in 2016, played two games with the Red Wings this season. He played 46 games for the Wings in 2021-22 but struggled to become a mainstay on the team's roster.
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