Music: {allcanada} Senators rally from two goals down to beat Capitals

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

{allcanada} Senators rally from two goals down to beat Capitals

WASHINGTON - Zack Smith's goal with 2:23 remaining in regulation broke a tie and the Ottawa Senators rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 6-4 on Wednesday night.

The Capitals led 3-1 after the first period but paid the price for their undisciplined play. Ottawa scored three times on the power play; the Senators outshot Washington 19-3 in the second period and 30-15 in the final 40 minutes.

Smith beat Braden Holtby 64 seconds after John Carlson's power-play goal with Smith in the penalty box for kneeing had tied the score. Bobby Ryan, who scored a first-period power-play goal for the Senators, added an empty-netter as the Senators won for the first time in regulation at Verizon Center since March 12, 2006.

Craig Anderson rebounded from a shaky first period and finished with 29 saves.

Eric Fehr, Marcus Johansson and Brooks Laich scored in the first period for Washington, which has lost four in a row.

The Senators got off to a fast start, registering the game's first six shots on goal, but the Capitals gradually titled the ice in their favor, taking the next nine shots and grabbing the lead at 12:10 on Fehr's second goal of the season.

Fehr started the play by pressuring Joe Corvo along the half-wall. Michael Latta picked up the loose puck and was able to push it back to Fehr despite being tripped by a sprawling Ryan. With room in front, Fehr waited out Chris Phillips and fired a snap shot past Anderson from the slot.

Ryan tied the game at 13:28 when he deflected Patrick Wiercioch's power-play point shot past Holtby. But the Capitals went back in front again at 14:06 when Alex Ovechkin's pass from the left circle ricocheted off Marc Methot and Troy Brouwer before finding its way to Johansson, who was waiting back-door.

Forty-seven seconds later, Laich beat Jason Spezza to a loose puck in the slot and backhanded it past Anderson. With three goals in 2:43, the Capitals matched their goal total from their previous three games combined.

But the Senators dominated the second period and tied the score with two goals in a four-minute span.

Phillips made it 3-2 at 6:36 when he ripped a top-shelf slap shot past Holtby on the rush with Fehr in the penalty box for tripping. Colin Greening tied the game at 10:36 on a nearly identical play, beating Holtby with a wrist shot as he came down the right side.

The Senators' power play cashed in for the third time at 6:05 of the third period when Mika Zibanejad's deflection beat Holtby for a 4-3 lead.

Carlson's slapper tied the game briefly before Smith scored the go-ahead goal.

White Christmas