Alex Ovechkin scored in the top of the fifth round of the shootout, and goalie Braden Holtby kicked away a Nikolaj Ehlers slap shot in the bottom half as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Winnipeg Jets, 4-3, on Tuesday night.

The shootout was even at two goals apiece after four rounds before Ovechkin put a back-hander past goalie Laurent Brossoit. Ehlers then came right up the middle and blasted a slap shot that Holtby kicked away to give Washington its second straight victory.

This was the first part of a home-and-home series with the Jets. The second part of it comes in Winnipeg on Thursday night.

Washington honored Ovechkin before the game for reaching the 700-goal milestone last weekend, and then he scored the first goal just 1:55 into the contest.

Ovechkin took a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and quickly put a shot past Brossoit from in front, giving Washington the early lead. That was Ovechkin's 43rd goal this season and the 701st of his career.

Jakub Vrana then used his speed to give the Caps a 2-0 lead midway through the first period. The Jets lost the puck in the Washington zone, and Vrana got ahold of it and quickly split the Winnipeg defense and beat Brossoit on a breakaway.

The Caps came up with a number of scoring chances during the second period but didn't break through until Garnet Hathaway put a rebound in with 6:35 remaining. That gave Washington a 3-0 lead.

The Jets then rallied to force overtime.

Ehlers grabbed a loose puck and put it past Holtby with 1:27 remaining in the second period. Cody Eakin, who Winnipeg just got in a trade with Vegas, picked up the puck after a turnover and fired a shot that Holtby stopped. Ehlers then buried the rebound.

Kyle Connor cut the lead to 3-2 at the 8:39 mark of the third period -- on the Jets' first shot of the final 20 minutes.

Mark Scheifele then got credit for the game-tying goal with 3:14 left as he drove toward the net but the puck hit Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov and slid past Holtby. That tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime.

--Field Level Media