Steve Yzerman scored on a power play with 5:02 left in regulation as Detroit finished with 54 shots but settled for a tie with Washington.
Detroit, which trailed 2-0 after the first period, tied the score when Yzerman took a pass from Nicklas Lidstrom at the top of the left faceoff circle and his slap shot got past Olaf Kolzig, who ended up with 52 saves.
Despite skating a man down, the Capitals scored 16 seconds into the game on a goal by Andrei Nikolishin. Washington scored again nearly eight minutes later when Jeff Halpern collected a Steve Konowalchuk centering pass in between the circles and sent a high wrist shot past Chris Osgood.
Detroit pulled to 2-1 when Vyacheslav Kozlov batted a deflected shot by Yzerman out of the air behind Kolzig.
