Wild 5, Capitals 3
Ryan Suter recorded the first hat trick by a defenseman in club history as Minnesota rallied past visiting Washington despite tying a franchise low with 11 shots on goal.
Suter came out of the penalty box and knocked home a pass from fellow blue-liner Clayton Stoner 7:37 into the third period for his third goal, giving the Wild a 5-3 lead. Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker each added a goal, captain Mikko Koivu notched two assists and Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves for Minnesota.
Defenseman Mike Green scored a pair of goals and Marcus Johansson added another for the Capitals, who led 2-0 after the first period before giving up three power-play tallies in the second. Braden Holtby turned aside only six shots as Washington fell to 1-3-3 in its last seven games.
Johansson knocked home a rebound during a power play 12:02 into the game and Green went around Matt Cooke before whipping a shot past Backstrom 13 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. Niederreiter converted a nifty pass from Charlie Coyle 2:16 into the Wild’s four-goal second period to halve the deficit.
Suter scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 6:56 and added another man-advantage tally 42 seconds later – both on shots from the high slot through traffic – for a 3-2 edge. Green’s shot off the end board caromed in off Backstrom to tie it and Zucker swept in a rebound during the power play at 17:04 to restore the Wild's lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Suter's hat trick was the 16th in Wild history and first since Guillaume Latendresse accomplished the feat on Jan. 16, 2010. … Washington RW Alex Ovechkin recorded an assist but was held without a goal for the fifth time in six games. Ovechkin leads the league with 31 tallies. … The four goals in a period for Minnesota were a season high and the three power-play tallies were its most in a game this campaign.