Jets fall to Capitals 5-4 after shootout

Bryan Little scored two goals, and Andrew Ladd chipped in three assists, but it wasn’t enough as the Winnipeg Jets fell 5-4 in the shootout to the Washington Capitals Tuesday night at the MTS Centre.

The loss drops the Jets to 4-6-0 on the year, while the win improves Washington to 4-5-0.

Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec made 30 saves, but it was Capitals goalie Braden Holtby who stole the show, stopping 43 saves for the win.

Washington would open the scoring three minutes into the second period, when forward Mikhail Grabovski pounced on a John Erskine shot to score his fourth of the season.

The Jets would even things up at 1-1 with a short-handed goal from forward Bryan Little.

Winnipeg would take the lead just over a minute later with a goal from defenceman Grant Clitsome. With traffic in front of the net, Clitsome took a loose puck off the boards and blistered a slap shot past Holtby's glove.

The Jets would continue to put the pressure on Washington, with their efforts leading to a number of quality scoring chances but no goals.

It would eventually cost them as Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin would tie things up at 2-2, sliding the puck past Pavelec with just over four minutes left in the period.

Ovechkin would make it 3-2 for his team, scoring his second of the game and ninth of the season, on a shot that just slipped through Pavelec’s blocker side.

But that lead would be short-lived as the Jets evened things up at 3-3 thanks to a goal from Blake Wheeler, who tipped in a pass from Evander Kane with 39 seconds left in the period.

Washington, who came into the game with the league’s top power play, would score on the man-advantage to take a 4-3 lead five minutes into the third period. Caps forward Niklas Backstrom would make a nifty move past Jets defenceman Tobias Enstrom before passing it over to Troy Brouwer for his third of the season.

But the Jets wouldn’t be outdone, evening things up once more with Little’s second goal of the game, beating Holtby top-shelf with 13 minutes to go in the third period.

Overtime would solve nothing, sending the game in to a shootout where Martin Erat would score in the six-round to give the Capitals the win.

First period summary:

Goals – No goals

Penalties – WPG Peluso (Roughing) 9:27, WSH Erskine (Roughing) 9:27, WSH Erskine (Roughing) 9:27, WPG Cormier (Unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:13, WPG Cormier (Fighting) 17:13, WSH Wilson (Fighting) 17:13

Second period summary:

Goals – 1. WSH Grabovski (4) (Erskine, Ward) 3:11 2. WPG Little (4) SHG (Ladd) 7:21 3. WPG Clitsome (Bogosian, Ladd) 8:31 4. Ovechkin (8) (Johansson)15:50 5. Ovechkin (9) (Johansson) 18:02 6. Wheeler (2) (Kane, Scheifele) 19:21

Penalties – WPG Byfuglien (Roughing) 6:16, WSH Wilson (Interference) 9:32, WPG Little (Slashing) 10:01

Third period summary:

Goals – 7. WSH Brouwer (3) PPG (Backstrom) 4:56 8. Little (5) (Ladd, Setoguchi) 7:04

Penalties – WSH Carlson (Hooking) 0:23, WPG Jokinen (Hooking) 3:45, WPG Byfuglien (Tripping) 9:55.

Overtime summary: 

Goals – No goals

Penalties – No penalties

Shootout summary:

Round 1:

• WPG - Blake Wheeler
• WSH - Mikhail Grabovski
• Total: 0 - 0

Round 2:

• WPG - Bryan Little
• WSH - Alex Ovechkin
• Total: 0 - 0

Round 3:

• WPG - Andrew Ladd (g)
• WSH - Nicklas Backstrom (g)
• Total: 1 - 1

Round 4:

• WPG - Olli Jokinen (g)
• WSH - Brooks Laich (g)
• Total: 2 - 2

Round 5:

• WPG - Devin Setoguchi (g)
• WSH - Troy Brouwer (g)
• Total: 3 - 3

Round 6:

• WPG - Evander Kane
• WSH - Martin Erat (g)
• Total: 3 - 4