Jakub Vrana scored in the sixth round of a shootout to give the Washington Capitals a 6-5 victory against the host Carolina Hurricanes in a thriller in which Washington's Alex Ovechkin posted a hat trick for the second straight game Friday night in Raleigh, N.C.

The Capitals overcame a three-goal hole, with Ovechkin breaking a 4-4 tie with 10:11 to play in regulation on a power-play goal. Ovechkin scored his 26th, 27th and 28th goals of the season, notching a goal in each period.

In the shootout, Carolina's Dougie Hamilton and Washington's Nicklas Backstrom converted in the fourth round before Vrana ended it.

In regulation, Tom Wilson and Travis Boyd also scored for Washington, which has won four games in a row. John Carlson and Nic Dowd each registered three assists for the Capitals.

Sebastian Aho scored twice for the Hurricanes and finished with a four-point outing, but he was not used in the shootout. He had a shorthanded goal and power-play goal.

Jordan Martinook, Teuvo Teravainen and Justin Williams also scored for Carolina, which is 1-4-2 across its last seven games.

Williams produced an unassisted, tying goal on the power play with 6:12 left in regulation. That came when Capitals goalie Braden Holtby misplayed the puck and Williams had an easy tally.

Ovechkin, who was coming off Tuesday night's hat trick against Detroit, tied his career high with a 13-game points streak last accomplished 11 years ago.

Trailing 4-1 midway through the second period, the Capitals pulled even in less than six minutes.

Later, the Hurricanes failed to convert on a power play across the final 1:35 of overtime.

Holtby made 22 saves.

Carolina goalie Scott Darling, who was in his first NHL game since Nov. 24 after clearing waivers and spending time in the American Hockey League, stopped 24 shots.

Martinook's goal came 47 seconds into the game on a backhand delivery after circling behind the net, giving the Hurricanes a boost after a road loss a night earlier at Montreal.

Ovechkin tied the score less than four minutes into the game. Aho's short-handed goal came later in the opening period on a breakaway.

Washington's Jonas Siegenthaler picked up an assist on Ovechkin's first goal for his first career point.

It was the first meeting of the season between the teams, who collide again in less than two weeks at Washington.

--Field Level Media