Washington (AFP) - Washington's Troy Brouwer scored the winning goal with 12.9 seconds remaining as the Capitals edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 Thursday in the National Hockey League's Winter Classic outdoor game.
The 29-year-old Canadian right wing netted his 11th goal of the season off an assist from captain Alex Ovechkin for the decisive power-play tally, set up when Chicago captain Jonathan Toews was whistled for hooking with 73 seconds remaining in the third period to put the Blackhawks a man down.
Hundreds of Capitals fans hurled free souvenir seat cushions into the air in celebration of Brouwer's goal, which lifted Washington to 19-11 with seven regulation draws. The Blackhawks fell to 25-11-2.
Ovechkin and Eric Fehr had opened the scoring for the Capitals but the Blackhawks equalized on goals by Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad.
The matchup drew 42,832 spectators at the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals for the 14th regular-season NHL stadium contest, what has becomes the league's New Year's Day tradition.
Washington goalkeeper Braden Holtby made 31 saves to collect the victory while Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford had 32 in a losing cause.
Cold and sunny conditions greeted players, with the puck-drop temperature at 43 degrees (6.1 Celsius).
Coaches agreed to have teams trade ends after the first 10 minutes of each period, a concession to the sun's glare and shadows of the stadium's upper deck that covered only parts of the ice rink during the first period.
Saad pulled the Blackhawks level at 2-2 just 3:15 into the second period, flipping a wrist shot past Braden Holtby for his ninth goal of the season, but the Capitals' defenders tightened and denied Chicago later in the period for 90 seconds while down two men in the penalty box, sending the game deadlocked into the third period.
Ovechkin, a four-time NHL goal scoring champion from Russia, gave Washington a 2-0 lead with his 18th goal of the season, which came 11:58 into the first period. But the Blackhawks answered 98 seconds later on Sharp's power play slapshot goal to halve the hosts' lead.
Fehr opened the scoring a tick past the seven minute mark, scoring on a breakway against Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford. Fehr faked a shot to lure the Blackhawks' netminder off his feet, then veered right and backhanded the puck into the net for his 11th goal of the season.