DETROIT (AP) Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Brett Connolly scored the game’s only goal on a third-period breakaway to lift the Washington Capitals to a 1-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
The Capitals have won six of seven and lead Pittsburgh and Columbus by four points atop the Metropolitan Division as the regular season winds down. Washington has turned increasingly to Grubauer of late after Braden Holtby struggled in February and at the beginning of March. Holtby wasn’t available Thursday because of an injury coach Barry Trotz described as a tweak.
The Capitals took the lead with 13:19 remaining in the game after Detroit defenseman Xavier Ouellet couldn’t control the puck near Washington’s blue line. Connolly and teammate Jakub Vrana went the other way on a two-man breakaway, and Connolly beat Jimmy Howard with a wrist shot to the glove side. It was his 15th goal of the season.
The Red Wings had a goal called back for goalie interference in the first period – replays showed Tyler Bertuzzi appearing to make contact with Grubauer in front of the net. Detroit squandered a great opportunity in the second when the Red Wings had a two-man advantage for the full 2:00.
Andreas Athanasiou had a breakaway in the third, but couldn’t beat Grubauer. Athanasiou had another chance in the final minutes, but his shot deflected wide as Grubauer tried unsuccessfully to grab it with his glove.
Detroit has lost 11 of 12.
NOTES: The Red Wings announced before the game that D Mike Green will have season-ending surgery on his cervical spine. … Capitals F Evgeny Kuznetsov missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury.
UP NEXT
Capitals: Visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Red Wings: Visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister
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For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey
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