Final - OT
Fedorov nets OT winner as Capitals top Predators
Mar 11, 2009 - 4:43 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Sergei Fedorov scored 2:20 into overtime as the Washington Capitals snapped a four-game losing streak Tuesday with a 2-1 triumph over the Nashville Predators.Nicklas Backstrom also tallied and Jose Theodore made 27 saves for Washington, which opened a stretch of 10 of 15 road games to end the season by winning its fourth straight away from home.
"We've had a bit of a struggling streak, so it was a good game for us to play, and it was a great team effort," Backstrom said. "We played as a team, put a lot of shots on net. I think the team did it for (Donald) Brashear, (Matt) Bradley and (John) Erskine for getting into those tough fights."
The contest featured three brutal battles in the opening 15 minutes.
"I thought it was a great character, courageous game, and we battled for our teammates," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We knew they went to war for us, so I thought our guys took it upon themselves to go back and go to war for them. I thought we played as good of a game we've played in a long time."
Defenseman Ryan Suter scored his sixth goal of the season as the Predators had their five-game home winning streak snapped.
Dan Ellis got the start in net in place of Pekka Rinne, who missed the game due to illness, and stopped 42 shots for Nashville.
"It's nice to get back in the fight," Ellis said. "I just tried to make the most of it and tried to play my best because you never know if you are going to play again. It's fun in a way. It was a real challenge."
The Predators earned a valuable point, but Fedorov prevented them from taking two with his eighth goal of the season. The former Hart Trophy winner received a pass from Viktor Kozlov and beat Ellis with a backhander for the winning goal.
Nashville (33-29-5), which has lost back-to-back games after winning six straight, remained even in points with Edmonton (32-27-7) for seventh place in the crowded Western Conference standings.
"Danny was really good (in goal), but I thought we gave up too many chances, obviously, against a very good offensive team," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We'll take the point. I thought we were the better team in the first period, but I thought in the second and third, they were a little stronger."
Suter opened the scoring just 50 seconds into the contest on a goal from the blue line and Ellis helped hold the lead for nearly two periods in just his third start since the All-Star break.
But Theodore shut the door from there, and Backstrom scored off a feed from superstar Alex Ovechkin with 81 seconds left in the second session to knot the game at 1-1.
"We're in a big playoff race now, and it's going to come down to the very last game," Ellis said. "You look at the standings from six to 12, and everybody's in it right now."
- NHL
FINAL IN OT 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
WASHINGTON 0 1 0 1 2
NASHVILLE 1 0 0 0 1 FINAL IN OT
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NAS - RYAN SUTER 6 (SHEA WEBER, MARTIN ERAT) 0:50
2ND PRD: WAS - NICKLAS BACKSTROM 18 (ALEX OVECHKIN, VIKTOR KOZLOV)
18:39
3RD PRD: NONE
OT: WAS - SERGEI FEDOROV 8 (VIKTOR
Mar 10 10:42 PM - NHL
WASHINGTON 2
NASHVILLE 1
OT: WAS - SERGEI FEDOROV 8 (VIKTOR KOZLOV, ALEXANDER SEMIN) 2:20
Capitals 2, Predators 1 End of OTMar 10 10:42 PM - NHL
END OF THE 3RD GOING INTO OT
1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
WASHINGTON 0 1 0 1
NASHVILLE 1 0 0 1 GOING INTO OT
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NAS - RYAN SUTER 6 (SHEA WEBER, MARTIN ERAT) 0:50
2ND PRD: WAS - NICKLAS BACKSTROM 18 (ALEX OVECHKIN, VIKTOR KOZLOV)
18:39
3RD PRD: NONE
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
Mar 10 10:36 PM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
WASHINGTON 0 1 1
NASHVILLE 1 0 1 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NAS - RYAN SUTER 6 (SHEA WEBER, MARTIN ERAT) 0:50
2ND PRD: WAS - NICKLAS BACKSTROM 18 (ALEX OVECHKIN, VIKTOR KOZLOV)
18:39
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
WAS 13 10
Mar 10 9:41 PM - NHL
WASHINGTON 1
NASHVILLE 1
2ND PRD: WAS - NICKLAS BACKSTROM 18 (ALEX OVECHKIN, VIKTOR KOZLOV)
18:39
Capitals 1, Predators 1 2nd - 1:21Mar 10 9:40 PM - NHL
END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
WASHINGTON 0 0
NASHVILLE 1 1 END OF THE 1ST
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NAS - RYAN SUTER 6 (SHEA WEBER, MARTIN ERAT) 0:50
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
WAS 13 13
NAS 10 10
GOALIES: WAS - JOSE THEODORE
NAS - DAN
Mar 10 8:47 PM - NHL
WASHINGTON 0
NASHVILLE 1
1ST PRD: NAS - RYAN SUTER 6 (SHEA WEBER, MARTIN ERAT) 0:50
Capitals 0, Predators 1 1st - 19:10Mar 10 8:11 PM
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