In Washington, DC, Elias Lindholm finished off a hat trick in extra time on Saturday to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 win over the Capitals. 
The winner came at 2:46 of the extra session.
“It’s always fun to play with a playmaker like [Gaudreau],” Lindholm said, “and for me, [my job is] to find open areas and if I’m open, I know he will find me there and it’s just my job to try to put them in and right now they seem to go in.”
Dan Vladar made 22 saves for the win.
“He’s been great for us,” Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau said. “Obviously, he’s got a great shot. He finds that open spot in the slot there and we try to hit him as much as we can. Just a great player and excited to be playing with him.”
Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two points in the loss.
“We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “Second to the battle, didn’t skate fast enough, did move our feet fast enough. We got going in the second period and kind of flipped it around but just not the start you’re looking for.”
The Flames posted three goals in the the first period to lead 3-0 after the first 20 minutes.
“Obviously it was a good thing we bounced back,” Ovechkin said. “We don’t give up and it shows our character. I think we knew there was still lots of time to bounce back.”
Calgary’s Andrew Mangiapane scored the game’s opening goal off the power play midway through the stanza.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored early in the middle frame to make the score 3-1 to Calgary.
“I think he’s in really good shape. His mindset is in the right direction,” Ovechkin said of Kuznetsov. “It’s good for us, it’s good for him. It’s kind of fun to play with him. It’s fun to see his smile, fun to see what he can do on the ice.”
Martin Fehervary got the Caps within one with a less than three minutes later.
Ovechkin tied the game with a goal at 18:03 of the second period.
“We knew they were going to come with a push, but they got the first one kind of early and it felt like we were on our heels for the rest of the period there,” Lindholm said. “But we battled back in the third and, obviously, it’s nice to get the win there in OT.”
Vitek Vanecek made 10 saves in the period and was given the hook in the intermission.
Ilya Samsonov made 13 saves, allowing only the OT gaol.


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