VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Lars Aller scored 42 seconds in overtime as the Washington Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Friday night.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored three goals for the second hat-trick of his career and Alex Ovechkin made two assists for the Capitals, who are 4-0-1 in their last five games. Vitek Venacek intercepted 23 shots.
Bo Horvat had two goals, Quinn Hughes also scored and J.T. Miller had two assists as the Canucks broke a three-game winning streak. Thatcher Demko made 30 saves.
In the extra period, John Carlson was forced to trade deep into the Vancouver area and came down the ice with Aller at 2-on-1, then delivered a crisp pass to Aller, who fired a shot through Demco's pads. .
"That's how it goes. These overtimes, I think sometimes it's almost better to force a turnover than to get possession," Aller said. "Whoever forces that turnover, give them 3-on -2 or 2-on-1 or breakaway and usually the best quality opportunities come. Today we were on its right side. Sometimes we're not. It was a big character win for us today."
Washington leveled the score 3-3 with a power-play goal after Vancouver's Tyler Myers was called for a check on Kuznetsov's head, with 4:53 to spare.
A scuffle in front of the Vancouver Net set the stage for the equalizer, with Kuznetsov placing a loose puck between Demko's skate and post for his third night.
Vancouver came 2–0 in third place but turned the game around with three quick goals.
The Canucks cut the deficit in a span of only 57 seconds, when Hughes wired a shot from inside the blue line and beat Venacek on his blocking side.
Miller made an assist in the play, which extended his points streak to 11 games. The Canucks forward has seven goals and 16 assists since February 9.
Less than two minutes later, after Aller was called for tripping, Horvat scored 2–2 on the power play.
Miller pucked the Canucks captain at the top of the slot and sent a timer into the top corner of the Washington Nets.
Horvat added his 20th goal of the season at 4:59 and tapped a backhand shot from the edge of the crease to give Vancouver the lead.
The comeback effort was solid, Horvat said, but losing in overtime still stung.
"Ultimately, we wanted those two points and all points from here are going to be huge for us," he said. "I thought it was great character by us to come all the way back and get to that point. It's unfortunate that we couldn't work out."
Demco was instrumental in keeping the Canucks in the game, making some big saves in the scoreless second period.
Ovechkin had a partial breakaway early in the period, only to see the Vancouver goalkeeper stretch his left pad to make a stop.
All-Star goalkeeper T.J. Oshii before the end of the second, snatching his point-blank shot out of the air.
Ovechkin briefly scored on the power play in the first period after Vancouver's Nils Hoglander was called up for holding. The Washington captain launched a rocket from above the faceoff circle and a diving Kuznetsov dodged Demko before knocking it over the goal line to make it 2-0.
Ovechkin remained on 766 career goals, finishing third on the NHL's all-time scoring list alongside Joromir Jagger.
Washington's first night came less than a minute earlier and surprised almost everyone on the ice.
The puck came off the pole in the back of the Vancouver net, then came back out and hit Kuznetsov's shoulder, stationed in front of the net, before toppling past Demko.
"The coach tells us to go more in front of the net so I'm just going to be there and skate there. And you know, lucky bounce," Kuznetsov said. "It's one of them that every player wants to score goals like that. They always feel good, you know. You do nothing and you get the goalkeeper. It's always one of the best feelings." "
The goal extended Kuznetsov's point streak to five games. He has four goals and three assists throughout the stretch.
Game notes
In the power play, both the teams took 1 wicket for 3 wickets. ... Kuznetsov's only other NHL hat-trick came against the Edmonton Oilers on October 23, 2015. ... Ovechkin was hit on the ice for the warm-up and during his first innings of the game, but the crowd didn't continue to express their displeasure. The Russian superstar received a frosty reception in Edmonton and Calgary - cities with large Ukrainian populations - earlier this week.
Next
Capitals: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Canucks: Host Tampa Bay on Sundays.