Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo had lots of help shutting down Alexander Ovechkin at one end, and Canucks forward Mason Raymond did his best impression of the Capitals' superstar at the other.

Raymond tied the game with a nifty move late in the second period, and then patiently lifted in the winner on a power play with 6:04 left, lifting the Canucks to a 3-2 victory over Washington on Friday night.

"We stayed with it and got some big goals there by Raymond," said Luongo, who struggled on first-period goals by Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich, but stopped Semin on a penalty shot with 5:45 left among his 25 saves.

Ryan Kesler had a goal and an assist playing with Raymond. But more impressive was the job their line did playing against Ovechkin, who received all the hype coming into Vancouver for just the second time in a five-year career that has produced two league MVP awards.

With lots of help from the defense pair of Sami Salo and Willie Mitchell, the Canucks held the Russian star without a shot through two periods, and without a point for only the sixth time all season.

"We were trying to capitalize off their mistakes," Raymond said. "We knew if we kept shutting their top lines down we would be heading back the other way."

That was exactly how Raymond tied the game with 2:21 left in the second period, finishing off a 2-on-1 rush after Luongo turned away Mike Green from point blank in the slot.

Raymond put the Canucks ahead while Capitals defenseman Tom Poti was serving a double-minor _ a cross check, and unsportsmanlike conduct call for slamming the door to the penalty box.

Jose Theodore stopped Christian Ehrhoff's point shot and Kesler on the first rebound, but was down as Raymond scooped up the second rebound and patiently lifted the puck over the goalie for his fifth goal in the five games.

"Confidence is a funny thing," said Kesler, who has four goals in his last six games after going 14 without scoring. "When you have it you feel good and it s effortless out there. Mase is playing good, were using our speed to our advantage and Mase is capitalizing on his scoring chances."

But only after working to take away Ovechkin's scoring chances first. Ovechkin, who was denied by Luongo's shoulder save on one of three third-period shots, had little to say about his rare off night offensively.

"I just didn't have the puck," he said, walking away after about two minutes.