Golden Knights hopes still on a flicker

In Las Vegas, the Golden Knights kept their playoff hopes alive by downing the Washington Capitals, 4-3, on Wednesday night, in overtime.

Shea Theodore picked up the winner for Vegas midway through the extra session.

“It’s just been good for me this year,” Theodore said. “Hopefully we keep it rolling.”

Robin Lehner got the start for the Knights and made 12 saves through one period of play. He allowed one goal and was given the hook in the first intermission.

Logan Thompson made 13 saves.

“As a goalie partner, you don’t want to be in that situation,” Thompson said. “Robin is a massive part of our team. He loves everyone, so you never want to see that.”

Alex Ovechkin scored twice for Washington.

“I liked the structure of the whole game,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “[Vegas] is a good team. They’re deep with offense, and I thought we did a pretty good job defensively.”

Evgenii Dadonov had a goal for the Golden Knights in regulation.

“We know the reality of the situation right now,” Vegas’ Alec Martinez said. “Our back is against the wall. These are must-win hockey games. Obviously, to get a win tonight and get those two points is huge, but really proud of the way the guys handled everything. We had some adversity throughout the game. It was a little bit back and forth, but it feels good.

“The job isn’t done yet. We can enjoy this one for tonight, but we all know what the task at hand is.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a single marker for the Caps, his goal gave them a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Martinez tied it, 1-1, just past the midway point of the first period.

Vegas improved to 42-31-5, and trail the Dallas Stars by two points  for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Dadonov and Chandler Stephenson scored 49 seconds apart in the third period to give Vegas a 3-2 lead.

“The tying goal by Dadonov was huge,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “We got some spark from Dadonov’s goal. Obviously, the power-play goal lit the building up. That was a huge momentum swing for us.”

Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves in the Caps loss.