Caps Over Canes 4-3 In Overtime

The Washington Capitals came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime. With the win Washington moves into the overall lead in the National Hockey League with 46 points, one up on the San Jose Sharks.

Newly acquired Jiri Tlusty opened the scoring with his 1st goal since the 2007-08 season when he broke in with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tlusty, a center, tipped a shot from Brandon Sutter 2:01 into the game past Caps goalie Jose Theodore. Eric Staal got his 4th of the season on a wrap around play with 6:04 left in the period.

In the 2nd, Alexander Semin scored twice on Canes netminder Cam Ward with the tying goal coming with one second left in the period. Tomas Fleischmann put Washington into their first lead in the game at 2:52 of the 3rd, but Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason forced overtime scoring a shorthanded goal at 13:30.

Defenseman Mike Green ended it with his 6th goal of the year. Both Alexander Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom got their 2nd assists of the night on Green's winning goal. That was Backstrom's 27th assist, the most on the Capitals and also put him in the lead on the team for most points, one up on Ovechkin.

Washington next plays the Maple Leafs Saturday night in Toronto, while the Hurricanes head to Ottawa to play the Senators the same evening.