Game 2 Started to Slip Away When Osgood Let Things Slide

A big momentum swing in Detroit’s 5-4 overtime victory over Washington on Thursday night occurred with the score 1-0 early in the second period.

After a solid first period, the Red Wings lost the lead and control of the game when goaltender Chris Osgood elected not to play the puck because he thought referee Don Koharski would call Washington for icing.

Osgood, however, did not realize that Washington defenseman Jeff Brown’s pass from his own zone had been deflected by Capital teammate Andrei Nikolishin outside the blue line. So when Osgood let the puck bounce off the boards behind him, Washington’s Peter Bondra won the race to it and scored a goal from the left wing at 1:51.

Washington went on to score two more goals and took a 3-1 lead into the third period.

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Washington Coach Ron Wilson has now lost eight consecutive games to Detroit, dating to last season when he coached the Mighty Ducks. The Red Wings swept the Ducks in last year’s playoffs and defeated the Capitals twice during the regular season and twice in this year’s Stanley Cup finals.

Wilson will not forget a shot taken by Esa Tikkanen midway through the third period when he missed an open net with the Capitals ahead, 4-3.

“[Tonight]’s loss is difficult but we will bounce back,” Wilson said. “They beat us by a goal in each game. We had the win right on Esa’s stick, for God’s sake. He could have made it 5-3. There was a lot of positive things we will build on, and we will bounce right back at home.”

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The Red Wings had to play the third period and overtime without forward Vyacheslav Kozlov because of a minor leg injury he suffered late in the second period. . . . Washington forward Brian Bellows was in the lineup a day after being at his wife Tracy’s side in Minnesota when she gave birth to a son, the couple’s second child. . . . Since the NHL implemented the best-of-seven format for the finals in 1939, only three teams that trailed 2-0 have rebounded to win the series. The last team to do so was the Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971.

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The Phoenix Coyotes, who promised a shake-up after another first-round playoff elimination, traded center Craig Janney to the Tampa Bay Lightning for left wing Louie DeBrusk and a fifth-round pick in this summer’s draft.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.