Connor McMichael scored on a breakaway at 11:36 of the third period, breaking a tie and giving the Washington Capitals a 2-1 victory against the host Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
T.J. Oshie, playing in front of his hometown fans, also scored for the Capitals and goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves.
Washington snapped a two-game skid, winning for the first time on its five-game Western swing. The Capitals pulled within one point of the New York Islanders and Detroit in the chase for the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored and goalie Joey Daccord stopped 21 of 23 shots for the Kraken, who fell to 0-2-1 on their five-game homestand and dropped to sixth in the Western Conference’s wild-card race.
McMichael’s go-ahead goal came after Seattle’s Andre Burakovsky turned over the puck at the offensive blue line while trying to leave a drop pass for Bjorkstrand. McMichael skated between the two to intercept the puck, went the length of the ice and beat Daccord with a backhander.
Oshie, a native of Everett, Wash., who was playing in his 999th career NHL game, was credited with goal No. 301 on the power play at 14:20 of the second period.
Washington defenseman John Carlson picked up the puck deep in his own end, skated to center ice and dumped it into the offensive zone. Daccord skated slightly to his left to corral the puck and decided to clear it on his own. Instead, the puck hit Oshie near the left knee and richoted toward the net. Daccord was able to get a touch on the puck with the underside of his stick, but only to slow it slightly before it crossed the goal line.
The Kraken tied the score at 3:32 of the third on the power play.
Following a mad scramble in front of the Washington net, the puck trickled out to Bjorkstrand near the top of the left faceoff circle. He put a wrist shot into the upper-right corner of the net as a sprawling Lindgren tried to regain control of his stick. Yanni Gourde and Kailer Yamamoto were credited with assists.
The Kraken held a pregame ceremony to present forward Jordan Eberle with a silver stick after he played in his 1,000th career game Tuesday against Vegas.
–Field Level Media
