SEATTLE — Connor McMichael scored on a breakaway with 8:24 left in the game and the Washington Capitals gained ground in their bid for a playoff spot by beating the Seattle Kraken 2-1 on Thursday night.
T.J. Oshie, playing in his 999th NHL game, also scored for the Capitals. Washington, now with 71 points, is one point behind the New York Islanders and Detroit for the East’s second wild-card spot. Both of those teams lost on Thursday and remain with 72 points.
Washington had lost the first two games of its Western trip, 3-0 at Winnipeg on Monday and 7-2 at Edmonton on Wednesday.
“That was a huge win for us. It’s pretty crazy to think about it,” McMichael said. “The last two games didn’t go how we wanted to at all. This was a huge response for us. We’ll just focus on one game at a time.”