In Vancouver, Lars Eller hit for the game-winner in overtime to send the Washington Capitals past the Canucks, 4-3, on Friday night.
“That’s how it goes these overtimes. It’s almost better to force a turnover instead of having possession sometimes,” Eller said. “Whoever forces that turnover, they’re going to get a 3-on-2 or a 2-on-1 or a breakaway, and that’s usually where the most quality chances come, and tonight we were on the right side of it and some games we’re not. But it was a big character win for us.”
The Caps improved to 32-18-10.
Vitek Vanacek made 23 saves in the Caps win.
The Canucks rallied from a two-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the game.
Evgeny Kuznetsov completed a hat trick with less than five minutes left in the third period to tie the game, 3-3, and force the extra session.
“Nobody was panicking, nobody was reaching,” Kuznetsov said. “It was always positive. We always believe in each other.”
The Canucks dropped to 29-23-7.
“‘Kuzy’s got to put that in,” Caps head coach Peter Laviolette said. “They’ve got a defender right there ready to swat it out. I’m not sure if it gets there or not and if he doesn’t touch it, the guy comes in and knocks it out of the crease, so he 100 percent did the right thing. Alex will get his goal. He needed to put that one in the back of the net to make sure.”
Bo Horvat hit for a double, and Quinn Hughes added a single marker in the Canucks rally.
“Obviously we’re happy to fight back at the end of the third but ultimately we wanted those two points, and all the points from here on out are going to be huge for us,” Horvat said. “I thought it was great character by us to come all the way back and get that point. Just unfortunate that we couldn’t get the job done.”
Thatcher Demko made 30 saves in the Canucks loss. 
“Early in the season and last year we would have, I don’t want to say folded, but we just would have found a way not to come back,” Hughes said. “It feels like we’re building something as I look around the locker room and guys are really [ticked] off about the loss, as they should be. … Tomorrow morning or the next day I might look at it as good to come back, but honestly right now it doesn’t feel like that, and that might be a good thing. The culture is changing a bit.”
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