Jets 4, Capitals 2
When the winless Winnipeg Jets visited the winless Washington Capitals Tuesday night, something had to give.
Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom was more than willing, setting up three straight goals to give the Jets a 4-2 win Tuesday night, spoiling the Capitals' home opener at the sold-out VerizonCenter.
Enstrom set up goals by Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler and Jim Slater as the Jets (1-1-1) rolled off four unanswered goals a 4-2 victory for their first win of the season.
The Capitals (0-2-0) received an early goal from Matt Hendricks but have now allowed 10 goals in their first two games, five of them on the power play.
The Jets blew the game open in the second period when Wheeler finished off a perfectly timed pass from Evander Kane, who blew past Capitals defenseman John Carlson down the left wing.
Slater gave the Jets a 4-1 lead when he deftly deflected a shot by Dustin Byfuglien past goaltender Braden Holtby for his first of the season. Positioned in the slot, Slater reached behind Nicklas Backstrom with his stick to get a piece of Byfuglien's shot.
Washington's Troy Brouwer scored with 76 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.
The Jets owned a 33-17 advantage in shots after two periods and were willing to play defensive hockey throughout the third.
After a stirring ovation following the dual national anthems, the Capitals grabbed their first lead of the season midway through the first period on a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal by Matt Hendricks.
Hendricks was parked at the side of the net when Nicklas Backstrom took a cross-ice pass from Alex Ovechkin and redirected the puck off his right skate and behind Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec. The goal was reviewed, but because Hendricks did not show a distinct kicking motion, it was allowed to stand.
The Jets evened the score and then grabbed the lead with power-play goals by Evander Kane and Andrew Ladd less than four minutes apart.
With Washington forward Joel Ward in the box for tripping, Kane emerged from the right wing boards and ripped a cross-ice shot that caromed off the skate of Capitals defenseman John Carlson and off the inside of goaltender Braden Holtby's right pad for his first goal of the season at the 12:34 mark of the first period.
When Carlson went to the box for shooting the puck over the glass, the Jets struck again against the Capitals' struggling penalty kill.
This time it was Ladd one-timing a feed from Nik Antropov just inside the far right post for his first of the season at 16:26 of the first period.
The power-play goals were the second and third for the Jets this season. The Capitals allowed three power-play goals in their season-opening 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and just four periods into the season, they'd allowed five goals in nine short-handed situations.
NOTES: The Capitals entered the game having won 10 straight home openers dating back to Oct. 6, 2000. They had outscored their opponents 48-21 in those 10 games. ... Washington defenseman Mike Green played in his 400th NHL game. In his previous 399, he recorded 82 goals and 169 assists for 251 points. ...Right wing Joey Crabb made his debut for Washington against his former team. Crabb began his NHL career with the Atlanta Thrashers, who last season moved to Winnipeg to become the Jets. His teammates in Atlanta included Pavelec and center Bryan Little. ... The Jets went 4-1-1 against the Capitals last season. ... Pavelec made his third straight start for the Jets. ... Winnipeg backup goalie Al Montoya is still waiting his first action of the season. ... The Capitals return to action Thursday night at home against the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
