The Kraken put up a solid effort in the 2nd half of back-to-back games, but a late tip-in by Capitals forward Connor McMichael and an empty-netter from Alex Ovechkin did Seattle in, 4-2.
‘Ovie’s goal was the 886th of his NHL career and puts him eight back of tying Wayne Gretzky for the most all-time. The backhand shot from center ice that found the middle of the net just happened to be Ovechkin’s 1,600th career point.
The see-saw affair tilted in Washington’s favor for good when McMichael redirected a John Carlson slap-pass past Kraken goalie Joey Daccord at the 15:44 mark of the 3rd period, giving the Capitals a 3-2 lead.
Daccord made 20 saves in a game that saw Seattle outshoot the Eastern Conference’s top team 32-24, a sound effort for the Kraken coming off Saturday’s 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Center Shane Wright opened the scoring for Seattle in the 1st period and captain Jordan Eberle scored to tie the game 2-2 in the 2nd period after the Kraken had fallen behind.
Wright’s goal was his 15th of the season and gives him 16 points over his last 16 games.
Ultimately, Seattle’s ongoing failure with the power play proved to be the difference. The 25th ranked PP in the NHL went 0-for-4 in the game. The Capitals went 0-for-1.
“It’s a game where your power play needs to step up for you,” Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma said. “We got several opportunities to get a goal with the power play. We didn’t, and it turns out to be the difference in the game.”
The Seattle squad, now seven games below .500 on the season, flies home to take the day off Monday and resume practice on Tuesday.
