DETROIT _ Petr Mrazek again gave the Detroit Red Wings the chance they needed.
Mrazek turned in a third straight strong start this afternoon at Joe Louis Arena, making 34 saves through overtime to lead the Wings to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals, who despite coming off their bye week still boasted the best record in the NHL.
In the shootout, Thomas Vanek scored first, T.J. Oshie shot wide, Frans Nielsen was stopped, Evgeny Kuznetsov converted, Andreas Athanasiou had too much speed going to get off a good shot, and Nicklas Backstrom was turned away by Mrazek.
Tomas Tatar was turned away by Brad Holtby and Brett Connolly was stopped by Mrazek. Henrik Zetterberg scored on a backhand and Alex Ovechkin stopped.
The Wings are trying to rise from the bottom of the Eastern Conference and into the playoff picture, now with 24 games left to do so. They play at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Goals from Nielsen and Tatar and 20 saves from Mrazek made it 2-1 going into the third period, which began with a full penalty kill. Steve Ott had a golden chance off a turnover but couldn't best Holtby. Zetterberg carried the puck behind the net and sent it out front only to have no teammate there.
A fourth penalty kill materialized at 8:31. The Wings intercepted a weak pass attempt by Ovechkin to cut down on the Capitals' possession time. The Wings went back on the penalty kill with eight minutes to go, making the Wings shorthanded for six minutes of the period. Mrazek covered up the puck as Ovechkin and company swarmed after a rebound after making the initial save on Lars Eller with an outstretched left leg.
A bad bounce made it a 2-2 game. Mrazek made a save only to have the puck bounce out and hit the stick of Daniel Winnik, ricocheting into an empty net. The Wings were outshot, 32-22 in regulation.
Mrazek denied John Carlson with a glove save in overtime, after two teammates had lost their sticks. The Wings had the puck in the offensive zone the last minute but couldn't generate a shot.
Mike Green, the team's most productive defenseman, missed the game because of illness.
Mrazek had to make two big saves in the opening minute, stopping first Oveckin and then kicking out Backstrom's rebound attempt. Anthony Mantha promptly tested Holtby with a net-front attempt. Darren Helm created a good opportunity when he drove the puck deep into the offensive zone only to have Danny DeKeyser shoot over the net.
A power play helped: Nielsen made it 1-0 when he skated to the left post, in position to tap in Zetterberg's bouncy pass from the right corner. The Wings stayed aggressive through a penalty kill, Mrazek made a couple of key saves, and Athanasiou got a good chance past the period's midpoint.
Riley Sheahan was tagged with a face-off violation in the last minute, requiring three saves from Mrazek, and spilling over by 1:22 into the second period. The Wings killed that off and then went back to attacking. Mantha used his powerful stride to create a chance off a John Carlson turnover, skating the puck deep before feeding Zetterberg, who backhanded a pass between his legs to Tatar for a 2-0 lead at 3:33.
Mrazek came through with one big save after another as the Caps pressed, deflecting a Marcus Johansson attempt off the left pad. A second Detroit power play saw good possession. Among the next Mrazek highlights was stopping a Carlson slap shot from the left circle. The shutout bid ended with 1:24 to go when a Vanek turnover and then failure to pick up Zach Sanford enabled Sanford to halve Detroit's lead, part of an 11-shot second period for the Capitals.
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