ANAHEIM, Calif. — It was so good that it deserved overtime. This matchup of the Anaheim Ducks and the Washington Capitals lived up to the billing, the league’s hottest team and its best team playing each other. Extra hockey was a gift.
The Capitals beat the Ducks, 2-1, in a shootout, winning a game so close and so entertaining that it felt better suited for June than early March. In his best game since January, goaltender Braden Holtby made 27 saves and stopped two shootout strikes. Shootout goals by T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom lifted Washington to the win.