Jakub Vrana faked left, pulled the puck back toward his skates and then dragged it along the ice as he prepared to shoot.

Goalie Jaroslav Halak kept sliding the wrong way.

After T.J. Oshie scored with 59 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, Vrana faked Halak out in the fifth round of the shootout for Washington's first lead of the night and the Capitals rallied to beat Boston 3-2 on Saturday in a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

''Nasty,'' said Travis Boyd, whose first-period goal was the only one Washington managed in the game's first 59 minutes. ''Ultimately, you've got to believe if you continue to do the right things you're going to continue to get those chances, and eventually one's going to go in. And sometimes it takes all the way to the last minute of the game.''

Boston led 2-1 when the Capitals pulled goalie Braden Holtby for an extra skater with about 85 seconds left in the third period. They quickly established possession in the Bruins zone, then tied it when Oshie converted on Evgeny Kuznetsov's pass from behind the net.

Charlie Coyle scored to open the shootout for Boston, but Holtby stopped the next four tries. Nicklas Backstrom tied it on Washington's third try and then, after Halak's glove save on Alex Ovechkin went to a replay review, Vrana scored the winner.

''He had some big saves in the game. In a situation like this, I felt like you've got to do something different to put the puck through him,'' Vrana said. ''I had a chance to see how he reacted a couple shooter before me. I took advantage.''

Holtby stopped 21 shots for Washington, which outshot the Bruins 44-23 in regulation.

David Pastrnak scored to break a second-period tie, and Coyle also had a goal in regulation. Halak made 42 saves for Boston, which has beaten the Capitals just once in 15 tries (0-11-4).

''He was our best player by far,'' Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. ''He made a number of outstanding saves, and again in the shootout.''

The Bruins are winless in five games that went to overtime or shootouts.

''We haven't been able to pull the win out of shootouts,'' Pastrnak said. ''Usually shootouts are 50-50. These days it's probably 20-80.''

Coyle gave Boston the lead midway through the first when he skated through the slot and one-timed a pass from Danton Heinen. Washington tied it before the period was over on a double deflection of John Carlson's shot from the blue line that went first off Boyd's stick and then hit Bruins defenseman Urho Vaakanainen's before bouncing into the net.

But Pastrnak put Boston ahead with his 17th goal of the season, bouncing it off Holtby into the net with 3:30 gone in the second period.

Other games on Saturday included (home teams in bold):

Minnesota Wild 3-4 Carolina Hurricanes

Tampa Bay Lightning 3-4 Winnipeg Jets

Edmonton Oilers 4-5 Dallas Cowboys

Arizona Coyotes 3-0 Calgary Flames

Los Angeles Kings 4-3 Vegas Golden Knights

Buffalo Sabres 4-2 Ottawa Senators

Montreal Canadiens 3-4 New Jersey Devils

Florida Panthers 4-3 New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers 3-4 New York Islanders

Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1 Toronto Maple Leafs

St. Louis Blues 1-4 Anaheim Ducks

Nashville Predators 2-7 Chicago Blackhawks

Vancouver Canucks 4-5 Colorado Avalanche

San Jose Sharks 4-3 Detroit Red Wings