Vrana’s ‘mystery’ goal sparks rally

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals’ 4-3 overtime comeback victory against Tampa Bay on Friday night started with a goal nearly every player on the ice didn’t think went in.

Down two goals to start the third period, Jakub Vrana connected on a quick shot from the bottom half of the right circle at the 3:45 mark that beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on the short side. No one on the ice seemed to know that it was a goal, but it was young Vrana who skated to the corner and raised his hands up in celebration. Soon, the grumbles in the crowd at Capital One Arena heightened into a roar as the rest of the Capitals’ players skated over to Vrana in celebration.

Vrana’s snipe triggered three-straight goals for the Capitals en route to a remarkable comeback. After Vrana’s score, captain Alex Ovechkin tied the game at 3 with a power play snipe from his spot in the left circle. It was Ovechkin’s 17th goal of the season and his 675th career goal. It was also his 255th career power play goal, tying Teemu Selanne for power play goals on the NHL’s all-time list.

Dmitry Orlov scored the game-winning goal for the Capitals with a left circle snipe with 1:57 left in overtime. The goal was assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie, the latter of which had three assists on the night. It was the 12th time Washington has reached overtime this season.

Coming back from two-goal deficits twice on the night, the Capitals improved to 18-4-5 through 27 games as they head to Detroit for the start of the team’s four-game road trip that will take them through California. The Capitals were a perfect two-for-two on the power play Friday, with Kuznetsov starting the power play scoring off for Washington early in the second period.

Down 2-0 after Mikhail Sergachev poked the puck over the goal line at the 4:28 mark of the second period, the Capitals answered 49 seconds later with a power play goal from Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov tipped in the rebound off a cross-ice pass from T.J. Oshie on the power play rush to cut the Lightning’s lead in half. It was his 11th goal of the season.

However, Alex Killorn’s snipe from the right circle with only 1:12 left in the second extended the Lightning lead to 2 once again. Outshot 14 to five in the second period after holding a 14 to seven advantage in the first, the Capitals struggled to generate many scoring chances in the middle frame. The team was unable to get a rhythm with a four-on-four two-minute stretch of hockey and an additional two minutes on the penalty kill.

That was, until the Capitals found the life it so desperately needed, with Vrana’s snipe early in the third period.

And while it was the Capitals power play that prevailed late for Washington, it was the Capitals penalty kill which proved strong throughout the night. Despite letting Brayden Point score the opening power play tally from between the circles off a crisp pass from Victor Hedman with 1:10 left in the first period, Washington kept the third-best power play in the league at bay.

The Capitals’ penalty kill, which was a perfect three-of-three against the Florida Panthers Wednesday night, kept the Lightning to convert one-of-four on the power play Friday.

Through the first quarter of the season, Capitals coach Todd Reirden had preached the importance of limiting the amount of minor penalties. The Capitals came into Friday’s game tied for second in the NHL in minor penalties with 99 through 26 games played. Players, like Lars Eller, have echoed Reirden, saying the players needed to both play smarter on the ice, while understanding with every initial start to a season comes more discrepancy in calls. Reirden has noticeably sat players for multiple shifts over the last few weeks for taking minor penalties, especially stick penalties.

And while the Capitals still continue to struggle with taking minor penalties, the unit got back crucial member Garnet Hathaway in his first game back after his three-game “intent to injure” suspension for spitting on Anaheim’s Erik Gudbranson on Nov. 18.

With Hathaway back in the lineup next to Brendan Leipsic and Nic Dowd, it was the first time the team’s original fourth line to start the season was back together since Nov. 13 in Philadelphia. Dowd hurt his hand early in the third period then missed five games due to injury.