Red Wings outlast Capitals 3-2 in OT to sweep home-and-home series

DETROIT (AP) — Moritz Seider scored at 4:36 of overtime and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Sunday to sweep a home-and-home series.

Detroit won 5-2 in Washington on Saturday. The Red Wings have won seven of their last nine.

After the Capitals killed a penalty early in overtime, Seider ripped a slap shot past Charlie Lindgren late in the extra session.

John Leonard and Lucas Raymond also scored for the Red Wings, and Cam Talbot made 31 saves.

Ethen Frank scored twice for Washington, and Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 shots. The Capitals lost for the fifth time in six games.

Frank opened the scoring with 5:43 left in the first, beating defenseman Albert Johansson down the right wing, then cutting inside to slide the puck through Talbot's legs.

Detroit tied it at 8:37 of the second on Raymond's power-play goal. The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead with 6:14 left in the period when Alex DeBrincat flipped the puck at the net, and it deflected off Leonard's leg and past Lindgren. DeBrincat had an assist for his 550th NHL point.

Frank tied it at 9:38 of the third, scoring his 10th NHL goal with a shot through traffic.

Detroit's Elmer Soderblom left late in the first period after being hit in the face by Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun's pass. Soderblom was bleeding heavily when assisted off the ice by Detroit trainers, but returned midway through the second period with a full shield.

Capitals: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Host Dallas on Tuesday night.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Washington Capitals center Aliaksei Protas (21) can't score against Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) drives towards the goal against Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson (77) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary (42) is pursued by Detroit Red Wings left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Red Wings left wing John Leonard, left, celebrates with center Andrew Copp (18) after scoring against the Washington Capitals during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) is hugged by center Andrew Copp (18) after scoring during overtime to defeat the Washington Capitals in an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration appeared to be intensifying its targeting of such vessels connected to the Venezuelan government.

The pursuit of the tanker, which was confirmed by a U.S. official briefed on the operation, comes after the U.S. administration announced Saturday it had seized a tanker for the second time in less than two weeks.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the ongoing operation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Sunday's pursuit involved “a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion.”

The official said the vessel was flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.

The Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the U.S. Coast Guard, deferred questions about the operation to the White House, which did not offer comment on the operation.

Saturday’s predawn seizure of a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries targeted what the White House described as a “falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil.”

The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10, another part of the shadow fleet of tankers that the U.S. says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. It was not even flying a nation’s flag when it was seized by the Coast Guard.

President Donald Trump, after that first seizure, said that the U.S. would carry out a “blockade” of Venezuela. It all comes as Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

This past week Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions.

Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela when asked about his newest tactic in a pressure campaign against Maduro, suggesting the Republican administration’s moves are at least somewhat motivated by disputes over oil investments, along with accusations of drug trafficking. Some sanctioned tankers already are diverting away from Venezuela.

U.S. oil companies dominated Venezuela’s petroleum industry until the country’s leaders moved to nationalize the sector, first in the 1970s and again in the 21st century under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Compensation offered by Venezuela was deemed insufficient, and in 2014, an international arbitration panel ordered the country’s socialist government to pay $1.6 billion to ExxonMobil.

Maduro said in a message Sunday on Telegram that Venezuela has spent months “denouncing, challenging and defeating a campaign of aggression that goes from psychological terrorism to corsairs attacking oil tankers.”

He added: “We are ready to accelerate the pace of our deep revolution!”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been critical of Trump's Venezuela policy, called the tanker seizures a “provocation and a prelude to war.”

“Look, at any point in time, there are 20, 30 governments around the world that we don’t like that are either socialist or communist or have human rights violations,” Paul said on ABC's' “This Week." ”But it isn’t the job of the American soldier to be the policeman of the world."

The targeting of tankers comes as Trump has ordered the Defense Department to carry out a series of attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that his administration alleges are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond.

At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and that the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.

Trump has repeatedly said Maduro's days in power are numbered. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published last week that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Trump's use of military to mount pressure on Maduro runs contrary to Trump's pledge to keep the United States out of unnecessary wars.

Democrats have been pressing Trump to seek congressional authorization for the military action in the Caribbean.

“We should be using sanctions and other tools at our disposal to punish this dictator who is violating the human rights of his civilians and has run the Venezuelan economy into the ground,” Kaine said. "But I’ll tell you, we should not be waging war against Venezuela. We definitely should not be waging war without a vote of Congress.

Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed to this report.

President Nicolas Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking the anniversary of the Battle of Santa Ines, which took place during Venezuela's 19th-century Federal War, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

President Donald Trump holds a cell phone with a call to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as he departs on Air Force One at Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Elm City, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)