Senators 3, Capitals 1
OTTAWA -- The Washington Capitals' eight-game winning streak came to a screeching halt in the home of a possible first-round playoff opponent.
Cory Conacher's second-period goal proved to the winner as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Caps 3-1 on Thursday night at Scotiabank Place.
The win, Ottawa's fourth in a row, improved the Senators' home record to 15-3-3 and kept them in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
It was the Caps' first loss since March 31.
Kyle Turris had the other two Ottawa goals, his second into an empty net.
Senators goalie Craig Anderson made 18 saves, including an Eric Fehr breakaway with just under nine minutes to play. Caps goalie Braden Holtby had 36 saves.
In the second period, Conacher was there to accept an errant pass by Washington goalie Braden Holtby, and he promptly put the puck into the vacated net to break a 1-1 tie at 13:26 of the second. It was Conacher's 11th goal of the season and his second since being acquired at the trade deadline and first while wearing an Ottawa jersey on Scotiabank Place ice.
Earlier in the period, Turris opened the scoring with a wrist shot that beat Holtby on the stick side. The Caps evened the count 10 minutes later when Mike Ribeiro batted in a puck off the post.
Aided largely by two power-play chances, the Senators held an 11-4 shots advantage after a scoreless first period.
NOTES: Ottawa's Sergei Gonchar was playing his first game as the NHL's top-scoring Russian defenseman in history. Gonchar moved ahead of Sergei Zubov with two assists in Tuesday's win over Carolina. ... Washington coach Adam Oates and Gonchar used to drive to the rink together as Capitals teammates for six seasons. They were 1-2 in Caps scoring during the 1999-2000 campaign. ... Senators rookie Mika Zibanejad turned 20. What did he want for his birthday? "A hat trick," Zibanejad said. He did have three shots on goal during one first-period shift. ... It looked like Washington center Marcus Johansson would be scratched from the lineup the way he limped off the ice during the morning skate. Johansson, who entered with 17 points in his previous 17 games, recovered in time for the opening puck drop. ... The second-period goal by Turris was the 100th point of his NHL career.
