VANCOUVER – Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella worried about a letdown coming off a season-long seven-game road trip.
He didn't need to be.
Playing together on a loaded-up top line, Ryan Kesler tied the game 2:53 into the third period, and Daniel Sedin put Vancouver ahead 2:08 later as the Canucks outshot Washington 41-19 en route to a 3-2 win against the Capitals at Rogers Arena on Monday night.
Zack Kassian also scored and Roberto Luongo made 17 saves for the Canucks, who returned home after wrapping up the road trip with a 5-1-1 record and extended their winning streak to four games.
Despite being outshot badly, Washington went ahead 1:52 into the third period when Jason Chimera, who scored in the first period, made a diving pass to send Mikhail Grabovski in alone. He wired a perfect shot over Luongo's glove, but the lead didn't last long.
Kesler tied it after Michal Neuvirth, making his second start of the season, had Ryan Stanton's point shot bounce out of his glove. It landed atop the crease at the other side and Kesler walked into a slap shot over the goalie for his fifth goal in four games.
Sedin, who assisted on Kesler's goal, put the Canucks ahead again after a dominant 78-second shift spent cycling the puck in the Washington end. Sedin walked along the blue line and into the high slot before sending a wrist shot high on the glove side past Neuvirth, who couldn't see around Kesler's screen atop the crease
Neuvirth finished with 39 saves for the Capitals, who failed to bounce back from a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday and have now lost two in a row after winning the previous three.
Alex Ovechkin was stopped on a penalty shot 79 seconds into the game, and held off the score sheet for a second-straight contest after scoring 10 goals in his first 10 games. With Canadian Olympic coach Mike Babcock watching from the press box – his Detroit Red Wings play in Vancouver on Wednesday – Luongo stayed with Ovechkin and got enough of his shot after the puck started to roll on a quick fake. Luongo made a couple more great saves, including a left pad on John Carlson, during a Capitals power play midway through the period, and Kassian opened the scoring the shift after it ended.
Kassian got around defenseman Nate Schmidt and snapped a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot that seemed to handcuff Neuvirth under the glove on the short side.
Chimera tied it with 5:24 left in the period, tapping in his third goal in as many games when Mike Green's point shot – or perhaps it a pass – got through a crowd and onto Chimera's stick on the back door.
Vancouver outshot the Capitals 16-3 in the second period, including a couple great scramble chances on power plays. But Neuvirth, who replaced No.1 Braden Holtby three goals and 13 minutes into the loss in Calgary, made a handful of good stops in tight to keep it tied.
Luongo wasn't nearly as busy at the other end, but still had to slide across on a 2-on-1 to deny Ovechkin six minutes into the second, taking away the angle and forcing a shot off the outside of the post. He had little chance on Grabovski's go-ahead goal, but the Canucks' new top line, with Kesler alongside the Sedins, picked him up soon after.
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