Fansided

Capitals: Top 3 heroes against Wild

By Michael Marzzacco |
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 23: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 23: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

The Washington Capitals defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-3 to win their final game outside of the eastern time zone.

The Washington Capitals took care of business behind two goals from Alex Ovechkin and a three-goal first period that proved to be the difference.

The Wild struck first with a goal from Ryan Donato at 3:01. The three goal outburst from the Caps began at 7:21 with a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin. Richard Panik gave the Caps the lead at 10:28 and Ovechkin added his second goal of the night at 10:59.

Kevin Fiala got one back for the Wild on the power play and it was 3-2 Caps after one. The Caps were outshot by the Wild 15-11.

The second period was scoreless with the Caps having the edge in shots on goal 9-8.

In the third Tom Wilson scored 40 seconds in to give the Caps a 4-2 cushion. Zach Parise got one back for the Wild on the power play but the Caps held them off for the win. The Wild outshot the Caps 17-10 in the third period and 40-30 overall.

Braden Holtby made 37 saves on the 40 shots he faced for the win for a .925 save percentage.

This win was a team effort but here are the top 3 heroes.

DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Richard Panik #14 of the Washington Capitals fights for the puck against Vladislav Kamenev #81 of the Colorado Avalanche in the first period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – FEBRUARY 13: Richard Panik #14 of the Washington Capitals fights for the puck against Vladislav Kamenev #81 of the Colorado Avalanche in the first period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Richard Panik

Richard Panik gave the Caps their first lead of the night with a nice pounce on a loose puck in the neutral zone. He raced down and fired a shot that pinged off the left post and into the net for his eighth goal of the season.

The goal came at 10:28 in the opening period. Carl Hagelin was credited with the assist as he suited up for his 600th NHL game.

“I was hoping he (Hagelin) was going to win the battle (in the neutral zone). He won it and got me pretty much on the breakaway so good job for him,” Panik told the media after the game.

“I just took a look and saw him (the goalie) a little off and I just tried to shoot his blocker (side).”

Panik talked about the importance of the homestretch coming up for the Caps.

“Everybody’s pushing for the playoffs and it’s good we got back from that slump in February and hopefully March is going to be better for us. It’s important to play good before the playoffs, you can’t just turn on the switch right before the playoffs,” said Panik.

There will be some playoff-like games on tap for the Caps this week beginning Wednesday night against the streaking Philadelphia Flyers.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals acknowledges the crowd as he is honored for scoring 700 career NHL goals prior to playing against the Winnipeg Jets at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals acknowledges the crowd as he is honored for scoring 700 career NHL goals prior to playing against the Winnipeg Jets at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Alex Ovechkin

The Caps got on the power play when Greg Pateryn was called for tripping Lars Eller. Then they went to 5-on-3 at 6:12 when Alex Stalock was called for high sticking T.J. Oshie. The penalty was served in the sin bin by Marcus Foligno.

Alex Ovechkin struck on the attack right outside the Ovi office from way downtown. It was a beautiful one-timer slapshot at 7:21. John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom had the helpers.

Then dreams finally came true for Caps fans. We got to see an Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Kovalchuk line! That’s right Ilya Kovalchuk skated down, found Evgeny Kuznetsov who set it up to Ovechkin to unload a one-timer at 10:59 to give the Caps a 3-1 lead.

Alex Ovechkin now has 45 goals on the season and 703 in his incredible career. He has now scored 356 career goals on the road which passes Jaromir Jagr for third most in NHL history. Ovechkin’s 45 goals are tied with Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second in the league behind David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins with 47.

Ovechkin spoke highly of his new teammate Kovalchuk and told Mike Vogel of WashingtonCaps.com after the game:

“I’m so happy for Kovy. He is playing better and better. For him, it’s different system and different teammates, but I think all the team is trying to help him feel comfortable, and you can see he is enjoying it and trying to do the best that he can.”

Keep up the Russian line of Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Kovalchuk and I think the trio will feel most comfortable.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson finished off a nice pass from Alex Ovechkin 40 seconds into the third period to put the Caps ahead 4-2. His goal turned out to be the game-winner. For Wilson it was his 21st goal of the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov was credited with the secondary assist.

Wilson gave great praise to Alex Ovechkin for setting him up with that nifty pass, telling Vogel:

“It’s great play from [Ovechkin]. I think it shows what type of teammate he is; he’s got the puck right in the slot with a chance for hat trick, and he dishes it off. I’m lucky to make those ones go in and make them count.”

For Kuznetsov, it was his second assist. He told the media after the game about how pleased he was with the team’s effort. Via NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce:

“I think both teams was really hungry for those points, and I think they need it as much as we need those points. I think we played a great job. They dump a lot of pucks, and I think we got close support, all five guys coming back. That’s what gave us success today.”

light. Hot. Washington Capitals: Stars Of The Week – Kovalchuk Is A Capital

The Capitals will play host to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

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