Dylan Strome had two goals and two assists, while Alex Ovechkin scored the 898th career goal and added an assist as the Washington Capitals won their fourth straight game, 5-1 over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Friday night.
Ovechkin, who contributed to Strome’s first-period goal, scored his first of the season at 1:19 of the third period to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. Strome added an insurance total with 8:28 left in regulation for Washington, which also scored a goal each from Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, and outscored the Wild 45-14.
Directly after a Strome win on the faceoff, the puck slipped to Ovechkin, who hit it on a one-timer near the top of the circle and past Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson to get closer to number 900.
Marcus Johansson scored for Minnesota, which failed to generate consistent offense while losing for the third time in five games to open the season. Gustavsson, meanwhile, recorded 40 saves as his defense struggled to keep the puck out of its own zone.
The Wild totaled three goals while losing two in a row after scoring 13 times in the first three games.
Washington, which outscored Minnesota 13-3 in the first half, broke through in a tightly contested first 20 minutes. With 2:08 left before the first intermission, Ovechkin skated with the puck to the right wing, then sent it into the blue zone for Strome to knock it away.
The Wild only managed seven shots on goal in the first two periods, but they tied it up with 3:13 left in the second. While Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (13 saves) was intercepted by Minnesota’s Jake Middleton, Johansson’s snapshot found the net.
That ended a streak where Minnesota’s previous nine goals all came on the power play.
However, the Caps regained the lead less than a minute later. With a nifty pass, the puck found Protas, who slipped it through the slot and past Gustavsson.
Washington has outscored its opponents 13-5 during this four-game winning streak.
–Field level media
