Red Wings’ DeBrincat scores last-minute tying goal off bizarre bounce
Thursday night’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals featured one of the more dramatic endings of the regular season so far.
Red Wings winger Alex DeBrincat scored his 29th and 30th goals of the season in the final minutes to erase a 3-1 Capitals lead and force overtime.
He potted the first one by waiting in prime scoring position amid a bevy of humanity, and the puck found his stick after a bounce off a Capital. The American sent it past Charlie Lindgren to get Detroit within one.
Just seconds later, as Red Wings goalie John Gibson left for the extra skater, DeBrincat wired the puck in an attempt to dump it in to set up possession.
Instead, the puck appeared to bounce off the hole in the boards meant for a photographer’s camera lens, and took an improbable bounce to get behind Lindgren for the tying goal.
ALEX DEBRINCAT TIES IT IN THE FINAL MINUTE OF REGULATION WITH ONE OF THE WEIRDEST GOALS YOU'LL SEE
The officials conferred to discuss the legality of the play, and ruled it a goal.
The ensuing three-on-three overtime went by without either squad finding a game-winning goal, so the game went to a shootout.
That brought about more drama, as Lindgren appeared to be injured as time expired in overtime, but after testing it out, he opted to stay in for the shootout.
Detroit was able to score on a hobbled Lindgren in each of its first two turns in the shootout, but the Capitals matched them with goals on both of their tries.
Dylan Larkin hit the crossbar in the top of the third, setting up Nic Dowd to win the game for Washington by converting on his attempt. After winning the shootout, Lindgren required help from his Capital teammates to go down the tunnel and get to the locker room.
DeBrincat’s wild goal helped the Red Wings secure a point in the standings, widening their lead for second place in the Atlantic Division to three points over the Buffalo Sabres, who have two games in hand.