Strome ties game in 3rd, gets shootout winner for Capitals against Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS – Dylan Strome scored the game-tying goal and the lone goal in the shootout, and the Washington Capitals recovered for a 5-4 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Strome leveled the game 4-4 at 8:54 of the third period with a one-timer that got by Adin Hill with four seconds remaining on a power play. This came after the Capitals gave up a 3-0 lead and surrendered four consecutive goals to the Golden Knights.

“We did a good job of regrouping,” Strome said. “We didn’t let their power play goal to start the third get us down. We created some chances and found a way to get that game tied. That’s the biggest two points of our season.”

Justin Sourdif had a goal and an assist, and Cole Hutson had two assists for the Capitals (37-28-9), who won their second straight game. Logan Thompson made 25 saves.

The Capitals moved to within four points of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

“This game meant a lot. Two points closer, but we have to go on a roll on these last few,” Hutson said. “We definitely had to flush (the first two periods). We got over it pretty quick. That was pretty big for the team.”

Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists, and Rasmus Andersson had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (32-26-16), who have lost three in a row and six of their past seven (1-4-2). Hill made 17 saves.

The Golden Knights remain in third place in the Pacific Division, three points behind the Edmonton Oilers and four points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings.

“We needed two points,” Andersson said. “There’s no sugar coating it. We need two points. It’s unfortunate that we’re chasing the game, but we did a good job coming back. … It sucks, but there’s a new game in a couple of days, so recharge and be ready to go again.”

Hendrix Lapierre gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 6:06. Ivan Miroshnichenko won a board battle and tapped the puck to Lapierre, who drove to the net and beat Hill stick side.

Sourdif one-timed a Connor McMichael pass from below the goal line at 1:55 of the second period to make it 2-0 on the power play.

Anthony Beauvillier pushed it to 3-0 at 6:49 when he redirected a Ryan Leonard pass to the far post.

Nic Dowd, who was acquired March 5 from the Capitals, cut it to 3-1 at 10:38 with a short-handed goal. He stripped the puck from Leonard and shot underneath Thompson’s left arm. Andersson added another short-handed goal 25 seconds later at 11:03 to make it 3-2 after skating through the neutral zone through three defenders and working around Thompson, tucking the puck inside the right post.

“We needed something positive to happen offensively,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We can’t get down or sorry for ourselves if we don’t score. We’ve got to keep working at it, get inside. Eventually, that came.”

Eichel tied the game 3-3 at 13:18, collecting an Andersson rebound and finishing a wrist shot into the net.

Mitch Marner gave the Golden Knights a 4-3 lead 31 seconds into the third period with a shot from below the blue line through a pair of screens underneath Thompson’s blocker on the power play.

“’Rass’ made a great individual effort,” Dowd said. “The building erupted again. You could feel we were lacking energy early. It’s not going to be the same guys every game. … When it’s your time, you try and take advantage of it. I thought, ‘Rass’ did a great job tonight. Then, [Eichel], ‘Marns.” We just got to do a better job at finishing out the game.”

Washington forward Aliaksei Protas did not return to the game after a head-to-head collision with Dowd on a puck pursuit along the boards with 1:10 remaining in the first period.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery did not have an update.

“We’re all hands-on deck, and we’re just going to try to find ways to get two points, no matter how it looks, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the adversity,” Carbery said. “‘Pro’ goes down. Whatever happens, the guys are going to dig in and do everything they possibly can to get two points, and they left it out on the ice tonight.”

NOTES: Sourdif became the 10th Capitals rookie in franchise history with nine multipoint games in a single season, and just the third since 1990-91. The others: Alex Ovechkin (31 in 2005-06) and Nicklas Backstrom (15 in 2007-08). … Eichel notched his 24th three-point game with the Golden Knights and moved within one of Jonathan Marchessault (25) for the second most in franchise history. … Ovechkin played in his 1,565th game, passing Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564) for the third-most games played with one franchise in NHL history and the third-most played by a European-born player.