Ducks top Caps, rally from four down (12-2-18)

By:Ryan Fowler

Headline Graphic Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network

WASHINGTON — Ryan Miller tied John Vanbiesbrouck for the most wins by a U.S.-born goalie (374) in NHL history, and Ducks winger Pontus Aberg scored his second goal of the game with 5:05 remaining to help Anaheim rally for a 6-5 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Sunday.

Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and two assists for the Ducks (14-10-5), who became the first team in NHL history to rally back from four goals and win against a defending Stanley Cup champion. Aberg, Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm each had a goal and an assist.  Miller, who made 19 saves, entered the game at 13:19 of the first period after Tom Wilson gave the Capitals a 3-1 lead. John Gibson made eight saves on 11 shots before being pulled in favor of Miller.

 Chandler Stephenson, Nic Dowd and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had a goal and an assist for Washington (15-8-3), which had won seven straight coming into Sunday’s matchup. Braden Holtby made 19 saves, and John Carlson and Dmitrij Jaskin each had two assists.”Should have shut them down there with a 5-1 lead,” Backstrom said. “They shouldn’t be able to come back. They’re a good team and they’ve got some skill on there, so that’s what’s going to happen when we turn pucks over and give them room on the PP.”

Aberg completed the rally when he scored off a pass from Getzlaf on the rush for his second goal of the period.Aberg’s shot from above the right face-off circle deflected in off the post on a power play at 7:16 of the third period to make it 5-4 and Lindholm tied it on a power-play goal at 9:01. 

Before those two goals, the Capitals had killed off 20 consecutive power plays.

TWIZZLING THE TWINE

Backstrom, who has four goals in his past two games, gave Washington the lead 41 seconds into the game when he converted a pass from Alex Ovechkin on a 2-on-1 rush.

Stephenson made it 2-0 when his pass deflected in off Ducks defenseman Jake Dotchin‘s skate at 6:08. The Ducks got one back on Getzlaf’s rebound goal at 9:24.

The Capitals restored a two-goal lead at 13:19 when Wilson deflected in Carlson’s shot from the point, which prompted Ducks coach Randy Carlyle to pull Gibson for Miller.

Kuznetsov made it 4-1 at 4:59 of the second when he made a more around Miller and reached back and tucked the puck into the net.

The Capitals took a 5-1 lead when Stephenson’s centering pass deflected in off Dowd’s skate at 13:30.

“Believe me, there wasn’t anybody on that bench accepting where we were just because we’d had some success previously in winning three in a row,” Carlyle said. 

The Ducks closed the gap with two goals in less than a minute as Andrew Cogliano scored on a rebound at 14:31 and Rakell knocked in his own rebound at 15:26.

 POWER PLAY

Backstrom (219) passed Mike Ridley for fourth place on the Capitals’ all-time goals list … Carlson has 11 assists in his past eight games. … The Ducks became the 19th team in NHL history to rally from four goals down on the road and win in regulation… Ducks Captain Ryan Getzlaf has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past eight games.
UP NEXT

Ducks: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (Dec.5)

Capitals: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (Dec 4.)                                                 [R.F.]