Vancouver Canucks at Washington Capitals

Pierre-Luc Dubois scores twice as the Capitals beat the Canucks 2-1 in overtime

Dubois ended it with 40.3 seconds left in the 3-on-3 OT, long after scoring on Lankinen with 32.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Thompson stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced in the second period alone, and Washington was lucky to avoid another loss while managing just 18 on net.

Lankinen made 16 saves and Conor Garland scored the only goal for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row and eight of their past 10 games.

Alex Ovechkin was held without a goal for back-to-back games and remains at 872. He is 23 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career record.

Takeaways Canucks: Playing still without injured center Elias Pettersson, they were better defensively than in their last game but could not get out of this rough patch. At least No. 1 goaltender Thatcher Demko is on the verge of returning.

Capitals: Coach Spencer Carbery still has a lot to be unhappy about, but his team keeps stacking up wins and points and is atop the Eastern Conference after points in five consecutive games.

Key moment Dubois got in all alone on Lankinen and scored his seventh of the season to prevent the Capitals from playing in a shootout for the second time this week.

Key stat The teams combined for just nine shots in each of the first and third periods of a sleepy game.

Up Next Canucks play at Carolina on Friday in the third stop of a five-game trip, and Capitals host Montreal.

WSH leads series 1-0