Takeaways: Capitals Battle Hard, But Fall To Wild In Shootout In Chaotic Game

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals' Thursday night tilt with the Minnesota Wild lived up to their opponent's namesake, as chaos ensued in a back-and-forth showdown between two of the top teams in the league. Ultimately, D.C. could only escape with a point.

The Capitals got goals from three different scorers, but Washington ultimately fell, 4-3 in the shootout.

Here are all the takeaways from the loss.

Lindgren Recovers From Early Mishap, But Not Enough In Shootout Loss

With his team on the power play, Lindgren came behind his net to leave the puck for his defensemen to carry back up ice, only Yakov Trenin was coming in hot, putting the netminder under pressure.

As Trenin closed in, Lindgren got rid of the puck and tried to make it back into his crease, going backward into a split to cover as much net as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop Trenin from wrapping around and putting Minnesota up 2-1.

The moment was similar to the one he had against the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this season, where he scored on his own goal. Ultimately, though, the team rallied around that error to win.

While Lindgren recovered and made some big stops as the Wild heated up, things came down to a skills competition, where Lindgren surrendered the shootout winner to Matt Boldy.

Lindgren finished the night with 30 saves on 33 shots.

Alex Ovechkin Continues Red-Hot Run

Alex Ovechkin may have missed 16 games with a broken leg, but he hasn't missed a beat.

With his team in need of a goal late in the second and on a four-minute power play following a high stick to Martin Fehervary, the Capitals captain delivered. He rocketed a shot through traffic past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 2-2 with his 18th goal of the season and third goal in four games since returning from a broken leg.

It also marked the 41st total time (through regular season and playoffs) that Ovechkin scored on Fleury, moving him past Brett Hull for the most goals by one player on a single goaltender in the expansion era.

Ovechkin now sits at 871 career goals, putting him 24 away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history.

Second Line Humming For Capitals, Fehervary Rewarded After Rough Week

The Capitals also continue to get a strong showing at both ends of the ice from the second line, as Aliaksei Protas, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson continue to work well together.

Protas was strong on the puck all night long, making nifty passes and plays, while Dubois worked hard to keep the play alive in the offensive zone. Then, Wilson would find the scoresheet after going to the front and staying aggressive on the forecheck.

Wilson intercepted a point shot from Rasmus Sandin and then picked up the rebound and tucked it past Fleury for his 15th goal of the season. He joins Protas, Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael as one of four players with at least 15 goals on the season.

Then, in the third period, the second line went hard on the forecheck, and after a turnover from Matt Roy, Dubois found Martin Fehervary, who is in the midst of a rough week after back-to-back high sticks and a chipped front tooth, wide open.

With the assist, Dubois now has points in seven of his last eight games.