Capitals 5, Hurricanes 4 (SO)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thanks to Alex Ovechkin — who else? — the Washington Capitals finally rediscovered how to win at home.

Ovechkin moved within one goal of becoming the first Capitals player with 50 in three seasons and netted the winner in the shootout, helping his team end a four-game losing streak in Washington with a 5-4 victory over Carolina on Saturday night.

Mike Green scored his 24th goal, most among NHL defensemen, and assisted on Ovechkin's tally, while Alexander Semin has his 29th goal and three assists.

Erik Cole, Eric Staal and Ray Whitney each scored a goal and had at least one assist for Carolina, winless in its past three road games. The Canes, playing their sixth game in nine days, remain in the eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Florida Panthers. 

"With all the hockey we've played, I'm real happy with our team," Canes coach Paul Maurice said. "You've got to look at your schedule and realize there will be stretches that you're just going to have to scratch and claw your way through.

"I think we survived it. We're in the fight, which is where we had hoped to be coming out of this."

Washington kept scoring — taking leads of 3-1 and 4-2 — and Carolina kept responding. But in the shootout, Jose Theodore stopped attempts by Carolina's Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen, while Semin tallied after Cam Ward blocked Viktor Kozlov's try.

That left things up to Ovechkin, and he didn't disappoint his fans. The last time Washington played at home, it was Ovechkin's miss in a shootout that left the Capitals on the losing end against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"It's great to get a point, but it's tough to lose that way," Staal said. "All points are big but we wanted to finish this road trip up with a win, and right now it's tough to take."

The Capitals won 18 of their first 20 home games this season, but entered Saturday just 7-8-1 since then. Magnifying their woes in Washington is this: They have won five games in a row away from the nation's capital.

Still, the Capitals got going back in the right direction thanks to their top players: Ovechkin and Semin each extended personal point streaks, while Green ended his seven-game goal drought. Ovechkin has seven goals and seven assists in his past 10 games, while Semin is up to seven goals and nine assists in his nine-game run.

But after Nicklas Backstrom's goal off Michael Nylander's pass gave Washington a 4-2 lead 12½ minutes into the second period, Carolina rallied.

First, the Hurricanes pulled within a goal on Whitney's score with only 7.3 seconds remaining in the second period, off assists from Cole and Staal. And then the visitors tied it midway through the third period, on Niclas Wallin's second goal this season, off a cross-ice pass from Dennis Seidenberg.

"We've had a wicked schedule," Maurice said. "We got down two and fought back, and I thought we were pretty (darn) good in the third period."

It was Cole who put Carolina ahead 1-0 about 10 minutes into the game, off an assist from Staal. Cole took the pass and, while moving to his left away from the net, swept the puck across his body and past defenseman John Erskine and Theodore.

The Hurricanes play eight of their last 11 games at home.

"Any point is huge for us right now," Ward said. "It would have been great to get the two points, but you've got to look at the positives. One point is a valuable point for us."