Alex Ovechkin, Capitals complete the comeback to edge Canes in physical shootout win

The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals traded timely goals and big hits for 60 minutes, then needed overtime and a shootout Friday to decide their game at PNC Arena.

Alex Ovechkin’s finally won it for the Caps, scoring the only shootout goal for a 4-3 victory in the Metropolitan Division game. Ovechkin, shooting third, beat Antti Raanta for the victory after the Caps’ Ilya Samsonov stopped the Canes’ Vincent Trocheck, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis.

The Caps tied the score 3-3 on an Ovechkin power-play score at 14:56 of the third after Trocheck took an offensive-zone penalty for interference. The Caps won the faceoff and Ovechkin, quiet most of the first 55 minutes, quickly unloaded for his 39th of the season.

The Canes (41-14-6) lost their third straight game but extended their point streak on home ice to 14 games (12-0-2). The Caps, coming off a road win at Columbus, are 35-18-10.

An injury to Jordan Martinook one night allowed Jarvis to jump back into the Canes lineup the next night, and the rookie didn’t disappoint.

Jarvis had his first two-goal game in the NHL. Jarvis scored the first goal of the game, and his second came with 12.4 seconds left in the second period for a 3-2 lead. Trocheck had tied the score 2-2 with a shot from the slot seven minutes into the second.

Jarvis was called for an interference penalty in the overtime, but the Canes killed off most of the penalty until the Caps’ Evgeny Kuznetsov was called for slashing.

Kuznetsov and John Carlson had first-period goals for the Caps, who took a 7-2 road win Thursday against Columbus. Daniel Sprong came inches from giving the Caps a 3-1 lead in the second, his shot hitting crossbar and post and initially being ruled a goal before being overturned on review.

It was a game of hard knocks. The Canes’ Nino Niederreiter was knocked into the Caps bench in the first period, losing his helmet and taking an angry swipe with his stick. In the third, the Canes’ Derek Stepan slammed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk into the Caps bench.

Canes defenseman Brendan Smith played with an edge, bashing some people. In the third, he put a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Kuznetsov behind the Canes net that left the Caps forward needing some time to recover.

It has been a season of firsts for Jarvis -- his first NHL game, first NHL point, first NHL goal. Typical rookie stuff, all memorable for the former first-round draft pick.

He also has been caught up in the grind of a long NHL season. Not the biggest guy at 5-10 and 175 pounds , he has taken some hits, large and small. He has had a few injuries.

Jarvis also experienced his first scoring slump. Before Friday, his last goal came Jan. 21 against the New York Rangers, the winger going 18 games without one.

But after being a scratch the past three games, Jarvis was needed Friday. Martinook was involved in collision and awkward fall Thursday in the loss at Toronto, suffering an injury that Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour correctly said “did not look good.”

Brind’Amour was not able to give an update on Martinook’s status or availability before Friday’s game, saying only that Martinook would not play and that Jarvis was drawing back in.

Brind’Amour also had some other changes in store for the Caps. He moved Sebastian Aho from center to wing — the first time since January 2020 that Aho has been used on a wing. Trocheck centered Aho and Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi was moved to second-line center between Svechnikov and Martin Necas.

Jarvis began the game on the fourth line but replaced Necas on the Kotkaniemi line during the second period. His goal late in the period came after Jordan Staal won a faceoff in the Caps zone and later got the puck to Jarvis in front -- Jarvis scoring as he was nudged from behind by Alex Ovechkin.

The first period was filled with some physical, at times surly play. Jarvis scored his first, skating between the circle and ripping a shot past Ilya Samsonov.

Raanta allowed two goals in the first he probably did not like -- a sharp-angled shot by Kuznetsov and then a shot from the right circle by John Carlson. Kuznetsov’s score came with Ovechkin and Niederreiter mixing it up in the opposite circle, play almost coming to a halt as the two went at it.