The game was marred by 20 penalties and the loss of Caps defenseman Mike Green, who in the first period took a direct hit from rugged Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger — one of the NHL’s best at doling out bone-crunching checks.

Green was skating wide of the Anaheim net with a defender to his left. But Pronger had the angle from the time they crossed the blue line. The hit stopped Green’s momentum cold and knocked him head and shoulders into the boards. Green skated off the ice under his own power after an Ovechkin penalty at 13 minutes, 28 seconds, but was favoring his right shoulder and did not return. He was wearing a sling after the game.

“It was a good hit. I seen him coming at the last second, but he’s so big I couldn’t brace myself,” said Green, who will be reevaluated before tonight’s game with the Los Angeles Kings.

The Caps built their lead thanks to two early power plays. The first came at 2:19 when Tomas Fleischmann tipped home a point shot from Green. The second goal was 96 seconds later. This time Green’s shot didn’t need any help as he fired from the point to beat Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller. When Nicklas Backstrom flipped a backhand shot past Hiller just over three minutes later — after a series of nifty moves and then a nice pass from teammate Viktor Kozlov — the lead was 3-0 and Hiller was pulled after just 7:13.

But the Ducks were far from finished. It took just 20 seconds for them to respond after Backstrom’s goal. After a nice breakout pass, right wing Corey Perry won a battle for a loose puck in the slot, beating Caps forward Boyd Gordon, and Anaheim rookie Bobby Ryan, just recalled from AHL Iowa over the weekend, converted the pass for a quick response. Anaheim center Ryan Getzlaf then cut the lead to 3-2 with his goal at 16:56 of the first.

So while the Caps had been ahead 3-0 and kept Anaheim to just five shots in the period — the absolute perfect recipe for a road win — they somehow held only a tenuous one-goal lead and had lost Green for the night.

But Washington responded again during a choppy second period where each team was whistled for three penalties. Ovechkin took advantage when the Ducks left him wide open in the slot on a power play. He settled a pass from teammate Chris Clark and slammed it home for a 4-2 advantage.

The lead was then restored to three at 17:48 of the second when a puck deflected off David Steckel’s skate right to Matt Bradley in the slot. He powered a shot past Giguere to make it 5-2.

“We thought today that special teams were going to make the difference and they did,” said Boudreau, whose team was 3-of-7 on the power play.

The game appeared over when Steckel scored on a rebound at 10:06 of the third. But again the Caps couldn’t stand prosperity. Ryan scored his second goal of the night just 27 seconds later to cut the lead to 6-3. Anaheim right wing Teemu Selanne added his 10th goal of the year on a power-play strike with eight minutes left, but despite several quality chances late the Ducks couldn’t push any closer.

“It’s kind of like trying to prove ourselves to the other conference — all the teams out west,” said Bradley, who notched his second goal of the season. “They’re a great team and they never gave up. They had us on the ropes right until the end. So it was a tough game, but luckily we came out of it.”

Caps notes


» The Caps were again without defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (groin) and center Sergei Fedorov (lower-body injury), who each missed their sixth straight game. Right wing Alexander Semin (upper-body injury), who leads the team with 13 goals, also sat for the second game in a row.

» No rest for the weary. The Caps (11-4-3) stay in Southern California for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings (7-8-2) at Staples Center. The two teams last met Feb. 8, 2007 at Verizon Center — a game the Caps won 4-3 in overtime. Their last game at Los Angeles was Dec. 14, 2005, a 3-2 victory.

» It was a productive day for Caps defenseman Mike Green, even if he did hurt his shoulder. He had a goal and a primary assist and got to play in the same game as boyhood idol Scott Niedermayer, a Ducks defenseman. Green left Anaheim with a signed Niedermayer stick.

» Ducks coach Randy Carlyle started back-up goalie Jonas Hiller against the Caps on Wednesday. That move came despite stellar career numbers for top goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 3-1-1 all time against the Caps with a 1.39 goals against average, a .951 save percentage and two shutouts.

» Of course, there is a method to Carlyle’s madness. The 31-year-old Giguere (7-6-1, 3.12 GAA, .905 save percentage) has not been in top form early this season, allowing 11 goals in his last three starts prior to Wednesday’s game. Hiller, 26, started for the fifth time this season and the second game in a row after posting a 2-0 shutout against Los Angeles on Sunday.

» Jose Theodore started a third straight game in goal for the Caps. At Wednesday’s morning skate, coach Bruce Boudreau was noncommittal about naming a starter against the Kings tonight. But goalie Brent Johnson has said he is fully recovered from the hip injury suffered during last Thursday’s 5-1 win at Carolina.  

» Wednesday’s game marked the Caps’ first visit to California since the 2005-06 season. They finished 2-1 on the road against the Ducks, Kings and San Jose Sharks that season.

» The Caps are now 5-2 against Western Conference opponents.

» The game drew an announced crowd of 16,076.