Oshie OT goal wiped out, Caps lose to Coyotes in shootout
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as T.J. Oshie skated to the bench and figured his overtime goal would be waved off, opposing goaltender Antti Raanta waited for official word. He'd been burned too many times before.
A couple of Raanta's Arizona Coyotes teammates left the bench and turned toward their locker room before others screamed the play might've been offside. They returned, as the Capitals remained on the ice and waited until video review wiped out a would-be goal by Oshie that would've extended Washington's winning streak to seven.
Instead, the Coyotes picked themselves up from their lowest moment and beat the NHL-leading Capitals 4-3 in a shootout Monday night.
"You're thinking as a coach, 'We got a point, but we blew a three-goal lead,'" Arizona's Rick Tocchet said. "You come back from the dead."
After blowing a 3-0 lead to let the game slip into overtime, where it looked like Oshie beat them, the Coyotes got shootout goals from Nick Schmaltz and Conor Garland and two more big stops from Raanta to snap their three-game skid. Raanta made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, and was able to keep the puck out against Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the shootout to cap a stellar night.
Raanta "tried to kind of stay in the moment and just hope that it would be offside" when Oshie's goal 2:16 into overtime was being reviewed. Coyotes players refocused after referee Frederick L'Ecuyer announced no goal and didn't let the roller coaster of emotions derail them.
"It's tough when you kind of feel so dejected and then, oh, you've got three more minutes to play," defenseman Jason Demers said. "I think guys did a great job of staying locked in."
Washington, which lost for just the second time in 12 games, was on the wrong side of two video reviews. A puck off the skate of Arizona's Christian Fischer 10 seconds into the second period was found to be completely over the goal line while inside Ilya Samsonov's glove, and then Oshie was clearly offside in OT.
Coach Todd Reirden couldn't argue either one.
"T.J. is pretty on top of things, so he had a strong feeling it was going to be offside," Reirden said. "We still gave ourselves a chance and get to a shootout and continue to grow and get better."
Despite two goals from Kuznetsov, Oshie's tying goal — the one that counted — with 1:16 left in regulation and 32 saves from Samsonov, it was a growing moment for the Coyotes. After goals from Clayton Keller, Fischer and Michael Grabner, they blew a 3-0 lead for a second consecutive game and have endured plenty of tough-luck blows early on this season.
Getting the benefit of video review in OT was a break the Coyotes felt was a long time coming.
"That would have been a tough pill to swallow," Fischer said. "The past three or four games we just can't close it out for whatever reason. ... We got a little luck there."
More so than luck, technology was on Arizona's side and Raanta was on his game. Long before OT, the veteran Finn went spread-eagle to deny Jakub Vrana 63 seconds in, made a Grade-A save on Tom Wilson a minute later and slid over to stop Alex Ovechkin from his patented spot on the power play in the third.
"I was trying to read the plays," Raanta said. "It was a little bit of luck maybe, but when you're reading the plays, when you're kind of seeing how things are going, you get those pushes and you get those backdoor plays. I think it was just nice to get those saves and help the team to win."
NOTES: Washington winger Richard Panik returned after missing 10 games with a right shoulder injury. To make room for Panik, the Capitals sent forward Travis Boyd and defenseman Tyler Lewington to Hershey of the American Hockey League. ... Arizona defenseman Jason Demers returned from a two-game absence with a lower-body injury. ... The Capitals have scored in the second period of every game this season.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Visit the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Capitals: At the streaking Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
