Capitals 3, Senators 2, OT .

WASHINGTON — Brooks Laich scored 12 seconds into overtime to give Washington a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Capitals' first victory under new coach Dale Hunter.

Off the opening faceoff in overtime, Jason Chimera brought the puck down the left side, and dumped it to Laich, who was trailing the play and slid to the right of Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson for his fifth goal of the season.

Nicklas Backstrom scored less than two minutes into the game and Troy Brouwer also had a goal for the Capitals, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Hunter's first NHL victory came in his third game since replacing Bruce Boudreau on Monday.

Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek scored for Ottawa in its second straight loss.

Washington goalie Michael Neuvirth, starting for the first time in five games, had 32 saves.

The two teams were tied at 1-1 going into the third period, and Washington broke the tie on a rush, with Alex Ovechkin's cross-ice pass finding Brouwer in the right circle, where he redirected the puck past Anderson.

The Senators again evened the score with 3:15 left in regulation, when Michalek poked in a loose puck in front of the net for his 16th goal of the season, tying him for the NHL lead with Toronto's Phil Kessel and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

The Capitals opened with an early lead as Backstrom took the puck in the neutral zone from John Carlson, crossed the blue line on the left side and skated toward centre ice, where he snapped in a wrister from between the tops of the circles for a goal at 1:58 of the first period.

Ottawa tied it 58 seconds into the second when Karlsson's shot from the blue line on the right side slipped past Neuvirth.

Washington picked up the win despite continuing woes on the power play. The Capitals were unsuccessful on four opportunities and have gone scoreless in 11 power play chances over the past four games.

NOTES: Capitals F Alexander Semin missed the game with an upper-body injury ... Ovechkin and Laich both marked their 500th NHL game. Ovechkin has scored 309 goals, the eighth-best mark all-time through 500 games. Laich was drafted by the Senators in 2004 and played one game for Ottawa before being traded to the Capitals ... Senators RW Chris Neil (sprained ankle) returned after missing nine games ... The Senators return home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Place on Monday night (7:30 p.m., Sportsnet East, Team 1200).