Going into the third period, the Washington Capitals trailed the Dallas Stars 3-1. The Caps had not beaten the Stars in Dallas since 2008 and had not won there in regulation since 1995.
Then Alex Ovechkin would score on the power play. Later TJ Oshie would deflect a puck into the net. With the comeback complete, the Caps forced overtime.
And that’s when Jay Beagle became a hero.
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BEAGLE'S OTGWG! #CapsStars #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/bDpNkiEK1u
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 22, 2017
For three-on-three overtime, Barry Trotz put out Jay Beagle along with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Matt Niskanen. Usually, Beagle comes off the ice after he takes the faceoff, but tonight he stayed. And tonight that was a very, very good decision.
As Kuznetsov peeled down the wing, he sent a pass to the net-crashing Beagle in the slot. Beagle shot and scored for his first career OT goal.
As you can (barely) see from the replay, the puck just squeaked by Kari Lehtonen.
The officials reviewed the call to confirm the goal. Lehtonen, sitting in the goal, threw the puck out of net right after it trickled in, making it nearly impossible to see the game-winning tally.
While the Capitals celebrated and later went into the locker room, the Stars stayed on the ice and awaited the official’s decision.
All three Caps’ assistant coaches waited in the tunnel for the official word.
After several minutes, officials finally deemed the goal was good and the game was finally over.
COUNT IT pic.twitter.com/Gmc0q8UX8M
— RMNB (@russianmachine) January 22, 2017
“I haven’t played much three-on-three, but Coach told me to go out there and stay out there,” Beagle said. “Kuzy called it right off the hop. He said, ‘We’re scoring.’ He made an unbelievable play and put it right on my tape in front. With his speed, you just have to go to the dirty area and he’ll get you the puck.”
With the OT tally, Beagle now has scored ten goals for the second time in his career. He also just tied his career high in points at 20.
“It was never a doubt,” Beagle said of the comeback.
Believe in Beagle, y’all.
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