Colorado beats Washington in shootout on its ice

In a wild game at Capital One Arena, the Washington Capitals fell to the Colorado Avalanche 3-6, with two goals in the first period alone. Alexander Ovechkin stretched the scoring streak. But the hero of the game was Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen, who contributed to 4 goals for his team.

Wild 1st period

Charlie Lindgren started in goal for the home team and Akexandar Georgiyev defended the Avalanche cage. The crowd didn’t have to wait too long for the first goal of the game. As in the third minute of the game, forward Ross Colton beat Lindgren for his 11th goal of the season.

Just two minutes later, Colorado back Devon Toews increased the lead to (2:0) for the visiting team. But the home team resisted the onslaught and tied the game within 44 seconds in the first period. Georgieyev was beaten by Beck Malenstyn and a moment later by Connor McMichael. So the game was tied after a very offensive first period.

The second period was much more active for Colorado, who outshot their opponent 12-6 on shots. Artturi Lehkonen put the visiting team in the lead at 28:50. And in the 18th minute the Avalanche power play unit punished the home team when Mikko Rantanen was the successful scorer after a pass from Nathan MacKinnon, who scored his 29th goal of the season.

Ovechkin scored for the 6th consecutive game, but Colorado won

Captain Alexander Ovechkin, who also scored on the power play, gave the home team hope in the 49th minute of the third period. He has been unusually successful in recent games given the way the season has been going. He scored a goal for the sixth game in a row, his 14th of the season and 836 in the regular season. And once again he came within a whisker of the legendary scoring record held by Wayne Gretzky.

However, there was no matching the duel. Instead, the Capitals recalled goalie Lindgren. And Colorado was able to score twice more into an empty cage at the end of the game. First, Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals and two assists and was named the game’s MVP.

Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon had assists on the goal. Colorado forward MacKinnon scored two points in the game and is still second in scoring with 87 points, three points behind Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay.

Miles Wood sealed the game at 59:27, scoring his ninth goal of the season. Colorado broke the streak of four straight defeats with a very good performance and they are in third place in the Western Conference table with 70 points, two points behind the team from Dallas.

Source: NHL