Ovechkin scores No. 870 in the Capitals’ loss to the Red Wings

Ovechkin brought Washington to 2-1 at 12:04 when he one-timed Jakob Chychrun’s pass in the left faceoff circle.

DeBrincat scored his second goal of the period at 12:35 to give Detroit a 3-1 lead.

“We obviously got off to a great start,” Kane said. “We knew it was a big change after they made it 2-1 and we came right back and made it 3-1. “It puts momentum back on our side.”

Lucas Raymond made it 4-1 at 14:18 by grabbing a rebound and popping the puck out of the slot.

“It’s a three-goal league in my opinion,” McLellan said. “If you win the race by three, you have a really good chance of winning. Toronto did it against us in the first period the other day. Tonight we did it in the first third.”

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery felt like the game was getting away from his team shortly after Ovechkin’s goal.

“We weren’t sharp, we made a few mistakes and it’s 2-0,” he said. “Okay, it’s 2-1. Take a deep breath, let’s get some even layers going. Then we throw a puck into the offensive zone, switch and next thing you know it’s in the back of our net.”

Dowd cut the score to 4-2 at 10:27 of the third period when he put in a loose puck.

NOTES: Ovechkin’s goal was his 25th against Detroit. He has scored 25 or more against 16 franchises. … Kane is the fourth active player to reach 1,300 points (477 goals, 823 assists), joining Sidney Crosby (1,636), Ovechkin (1,577) and Evgeni Malkin (1,326). He is also the second American-born player to hit the mark, after Mike Modano (1,374).