The Alex Ovechkin show in Vancouver didn't pan out as many hoped it would.
There were no Ovechkin-Luongo showdown. There were no highlight reel clip with number eight in it.
And he didn't even factor onto the scoreboard, as he couldn't get his first shot on net until about 51 minutes into the game.
Instead, it was Mason Raymond who stole the spotlight.
The Canucks winger scored twice, including the winner on a four-minute powerplay in the third, to lead Vancouver to a 3-2 win over the visiting Capitals Friday at GM Place.
"We know we were prepared to win a tight game, and I got a couple good passes and was able to put those home," said Raymond, who also finished with three shots on net. "We wanted to be well aware when [Ovechkin's] line was out there and shut him down."
Raymond's second goal came after Tom Poti took a cross-checking and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with over eight minutes left.
Just 19 seconds after the goal though, Alexander Semin was given a great opportunity to tie the game up with a penalty shot but was stymied by Roberto Luongo, who finished the night with 25 saves.
"I mean he's a shooter so I kind of played the shot a little bit," said the Canucks goaltender.
Semin on his part was the best Capitals player out there, firing seven shots on net and scoring the opening goal.
His tally tied the game up at one in the first, just seconds after Tanner Glass dumped Brooks Laich into the Canucks bench, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.
The Capitals took the lead later on in the first when Chris Clark converted off a bad Kevin Bieksa turnover at the Vancouver blueline.
Ryan Kesler had the other goal in the opening frame, taking credit for an Jeff Schultz's own goal after he deflected the puck off his skates into his own net following a missed breakaway chance by Kesler.
Kesler added an assist on the winner, while Henrik Sedin extended his point streak to nine games with a helper on Raymond's first goal, which came with under three minutes to go in the second.
Meanwhile, Daniel failed to get a point, snapping his personal streak at eight games.
With the win, their fourth in their last five, the Canucks improved their home record to 14-5-0 and moved to ninth in the West with 40 points.
They'll get a day off before playing the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, their sixth game of the current eight game home stretch.
