Capitals recover, defeat Jets in Kovalchuk debut

Welcome to NHL.com, the official site of the National Hockey LeagueBienvenue à LNH.com , le site officiel de la Ligue nationale de hockeyДобро пожаловать на NHL.com, официальный сайт Национальной хоккейной лигиTervetuloa NHL:n viralliselle nettisivustolle NHL.comiinVälkommen till NHL.com, NHL:s officiella web-sidaVítejte na NHL.com, oficiálních stránkách National Hockey LeagueVitajte na NHL.com, oficiálnych stránkach National Hockey LeagueWillkommen auf NHL.com, der offiziellen Seite der National Hockey LeagueBienvenido a NHL.com, el sitio oficial de la National Hockey LeagueAlex Ovechkin scores in the fifth round of the shootout, and Braden Holtby stops Nikolaj Ehlers to lead the Capitals to a 4-3 shootout victoryWASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 701st NHL goal and had the deciding goal in the shootout, helping the Washington Capitals defeat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.After Ovechkin beat Laurent Brossoit with a backhand in the fifth round of the shootout, Braden Holtby stopped Nikolaj Ehlers to end it."Sometimes even I don't know what I'm going to do out there, so I'll take it," Ovechkin said of his shootout move. The Capitals moved four points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for first in the Metropolitan Division.Holtby made 30 saves, and Washington won despite giving up a 3-0 lead."When we get that kind of lead, we have to manage the puck right, you know, and we should easily win the game," Ovechkin said. Obviously, [Holtby] today was unbelievable, all four lines were rolling, and it was fun to watch."Video: WPG@WSH: Ovechkin swats puck home for goal in frontWashington forward Ilya Kovalchuk, who was traded from the Montreal Canadiens for a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft on Sunday, played 14:39 in his Capitals debut and was stopped on his shootout attempt.Ehlers, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele scored for Winnipeg (32-27-6), which is 0-2-1 in its past three and is tied with the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Laurent was just really good and a big piece of us getting to the shootout alone, so I'm hoping these men appreciate the work that they did tonight."The Jets tied it 3-3 at 16:46 of the third period when Scheifele drove to the net and the puck went in off Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov's skate.Video: WPG@WSH: Scheifele nets tying goal while falling downSoon after a ceremony honoring him for scoring his 700th NHL goal on Saturday, Ovechkin scored No. 701 to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:55 of the first period.