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Geoff Burke

Nine times this season, the Washington Capitals have come back to win a game. They have won 16 times in total, so in more than half of their wins, they have had to climb out of a hole.

The latest came Friday at Capital One Arena, a 5-4 overtime win against the New York Islanders. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored the winner 1:20 into the three-on-three extra period after the Capitals scored twice in the final frame to tie things up.

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Goaltender Logan Thompson made 20 saves on 24 shots to improve to 10-1-1 on the season. Former Capital Semyon Varlamov stopped 21 of 26 for the Islanders.

Washington Coach Spencer Carbery would prefer that his team wasn’t leading the NHL in comeback wins, but he will take the victories regardless.

“I look at it two ways,” Carbery said. “I appreciate the resiliency and the character of our group. I don’t like that we’re putting ourselves in those situations, but we’ve got a lot of fight and a lot of character in that room that isn’t just going to lay down.”

New York took the lead at 3:36 of the first period as Simon Holmstrom beat Thompson over the blocker with a quick-release wrister, but the Capitals evened the score just 1:14 later on a goal from center Nic Dowd at the front of the net.

Winger Brandon Duhaime chased down a puck in the corner and got it to Ivan Miroshnichenko, who dished it to Dowd near the goal line. Dowd had space to slide to the front of the crease and backhand the puck past Varlamov for his sixth goal of the season.

Washington then took the lead with a power-play tally from winger Tom Wilson midway through the period. With Islanders forward Maxim Tsyplakov in the box for sending the puck over the glass in his defensive zone, center Dylan Strome initiated a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with forward Connor McMichael and Wilson. Strome entered the zone with the puck and passed it to McMichael below the goal line; he immediately put it on Wilson’s tape for a one-timer finish from the bumper position between the circles.

The Capitals killed two penalties in the remainder of the period, one for too many men and one to defenseman Rasmus Sandin for interference.

Just 1:15 into the second period, though, Anders Lee tied the game with a tip on a shot from Noah Dobson at the point that slipped past Thompson on the short side. The tally set the tone for a middle frame that was all Islanders; Washington mustered just five shots on goal while giving up three goals to New York.

“We realized the second period isn’t what we want it to be,” Wilson said. “Then we came out in the third and we fixed it.”

Defenseman John Carlson looked to have given the Capitals the lead on a delayed penalty drawn by center Lars Eller, but after a challenge by the Islanders, the goal was overturned for goaltender interference — the third goal Carlson has had taken off the board upon review this season. The NHL’s Situation Room, <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/situation-room/new-york-islanders-washington-capitals-coach-challenge-x5316" target=_blank>explaining the decision</a>, said that forward Hendrix Lapierre had a “significant presence” in the crease that prevented Varlamov from playing his position.

Carbery admitted he was confused by the decision — and, more broadly, how goaltender interference is called across the league.

“Lappy, to me, doesn’t do anything to affect that goal,” Carbery said. “It’s a goal whether he’s standing there or not, moves out of the way. I don’t know the answer, but I just know that that should be a hockey goal. ... You could sit here all day and debate it, and that’s what we find when we go through all these.”

Washington still received the power play because the goal was disallowed but couldn’t convert. Less than 30 seconds after New York killed the penalty, Kyle MacLean put the Islanders ahead. Holmstrom extended the lead with his second goal of the game less than two minutes later.

To begin the third period, Lee was in the penalty box for hooking Capitals winger Taylor Raddysh. On the power play, Strome received a pass from Chychrun and had space to skate into the top of the slot before firing a wrist shot that flew over Varlamov’s shoulder.

With the Caps trailing by just one goal, Carbery swapped his centers. Strome began to play with McMichael and Wilson, while Dowd moved up to center Raddysh and Aliaksei Protas. Pierre-Luc Dubois moved to the fourth line between Duhaime and Miroshnichenko.

“Trying to get a spark,” Carbery said of the moves. “I felt like we didn’t have a lot in that second. I thought it was a good opportunity to move some things around. We haven’t had a lot of — the chemistry is just a little bit off. We haven’t found that real, consistent, two, three, four games in a row with some certain lines.”

Strome’s new line gave Washington the tying goal. After the Islanders’ attempt at clearing the defensive zone was intercepted by Sandin, McMichael made a pass to defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk in the slot, and he dished it to Wilson waiting at the bottom of the right faceoff circle. Wilson had plenty of net to shoot at while Varlamov tried to slide across the crease, and his Alex Ovechkin-esque one-timer easily beat the netminder to tie the game at 4.

With 3:50 remaining, Dowd was penalized for slashing New York’s Oliver Wahlstrom. Dowd is one of the key members of Washington’s penalty kill, but the Capitals killed the penalty without allowing a shot on goal.

Washington held possession from the opening faceoff of overtime, and when the Capitals’ second set of players came over the boards, Chychrun immediately found space up the middle of the ice to fire home the winner.

“Just a lot of room to skate,” Chychrun said. “Just tried to get on my horse and get some speed through the neutral zone, back them off a bit. I was able to get a pretty good look from just about the top of the circles.”

Chychrun’s goal completed the comeback, which McMichael views as an important sign for the Capitals going forward.

“Just shows that we’re a really good hockey team,” McMichael said. “There’s an old saying that good teams always find a way to win, and I think it just proves that we’re a really good hockey team. We’ve got guys with high character that never give up on pucks, never give up on plays or games.”

University of Michigan, BA in communications

Bailey Johnson joined The Washington Post in 2023 as the Washington Capitals beat writer. She previously covered the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Columbus Crew for the Columbus Dispatch. 

Bailey Johnson

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