Canucks 3, Capitals 2, SO

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Olaf Kolzig tried his best to stop the Vancouver Canucks in the shootout while playing with an injured left leg. Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison were just too much for him to handle.

Naslund and Morrison scored shootout goals and Roberto Luongo stopped Matt Pettinger and Alexander Ovechkin to give Vancouver a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Friday night.

Ovechkin's shootout attempt rang off the post at one end, and Morrison's winner barely trickled over the line behind Kolzig.

"I was kind of waiting for the whistle to blow it dead but with my momentum I just kept creeping back," Kolzig said. "I thought it was under me and obviously I knew what happened when I heard the roar of the crowd. It's unfortunate."

Kolzig was brilliant while making 42 saves in regulation and overtime. He stopped Daniel Sedin on the first shootout attempt, but Naslund roofed a backhand over his glove and Morrison's deke trickled in to secure the Canucks' fourth victory in five games.

"It was good to get the win but it took too long in my opinion," Naslund said.

Jan Bulis and Taylor Pyatt scored as the Canucks outshot the Capitals 16-1 in the first period, but Kolzig stopped 11 shots in the second and 15 in the third, including point blank saves off Pyatt and Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and a breakaway save on Ryan Kesler.

"I'm happy with the point, but not happy with the way we played," said Kolzig, who needed help from the trainer after taking a shot off the inside of his left leg with 5 minutes left. The leg was wrapped in ice in the locker room afterward, and Kolzig said it played a role in the shootout.

"When you face 44 shots and you're 36 years old, things start to tighten up," said Kolzig, who stopped 45 shots in Wednesday's win at Colorado. "I wasn't really huffing and puffing, but the leg started to seize up."

At the other end, Luongo was doing his best to stay awake early. He faced just one shot in the first period and only needed 19 saves in regulation and overtime to continue his domination of the Capitals. Playing for Florida last season, Luongo was 7-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .950 save percentage against Washington, including a 53-save victory.

He secured his eighth straight win against the Capitals by squeezing the pads to stop Matt Pettinger in the shootout's first round, but needed help from his post after Ovechkin appeared to have him down and out from a sharp angle in the second round.

"I beat Luongo today, but I shoot the cross bar, said Ovechkin, who has missed his last seven shootout attempts dating to the end of last season, and also shot wide on a penalty shot Wednesday. "Next penalty shot I think I score."

Ovechkin did score for the fourth straight game in regulation and also assisted on Dainius Zubrus' goal as the Caps earned three of four points to start a four-game trip.

Vancouver was outshooting Washington 27-12 before Ovechkin got the Capitals going during a 5-on-3 power play with 3:11 left in the second period. His point shot deflected to Zubrus for a tap-in at the side of the net, and Ovechkin tied it with a similarly easy goal. A turnover inside the Canucks' blue line left Brian Sutherby 1-on-1 against Luongo at the side of the net and, after a couple of fakes, he slid a backdoor pass to a streaking Ovechkin, who slammed the puck into the unguarded net late in the second for his sixth goal of the season.

Other that those 4 minutes, however, the Canucks controlled the game.

"That was the third-best offensive team in the league and for two periods and we shut them down," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said.

Notes: Ovechkin was called for diving when Sami Salo hauled him down on a partial break late in second period. Salo also was penalized for holding on the play. ... Four of Pyatt's six goals have come since moving onto a line with the Sedins five games ago. Pyatt has already matched his total from 41 games in Buffalo last season. ... Washington backup Brent Johnson is expected to play in Edmonton on Saturday night before the Capitals wrap up their four-game trip in Calgary on Monday night. ... Canucks D Willie Mitchell missed his third straight game because of a concussion.