Capitals 7, Avalanche 3
WASHINGTON -- Center Evgeny Kuznetsov notched a goal and two assists, and the Washington Capitals jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period en route to a 7-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Kuznetsov assisted on two of Washington's first four tallies and provided some breathing room with a power-play goal that made it 5-2 early in the third period.
He has two goals and four assists in his last five games.
Right winger Justin Williams, left winger Alex Ovechkin, and defensemen John Carlson, Nate Schmidt, Dmitry Orlov and Karl Alzner also scored for Washington.
Capitals left winger Jason Chimera added three assists and Braden Holtby made 24 saves.
Washington (13-5-1) rebounded from Thursday's 3-2 loss to Dallas and has yet to drop consecutive games.
Left winger Cody McLeod, center Nathan MacKinnon and left winger Andreas Martinson scored for Colorado (7-12-1), which has lost three straight.
Avalanche goalie Reto Berra was lifted after one period in favor of Calvin Pickard, who stopped 18 shots.
Washington scored on three of its first seven shots to put the Avalanche in an early hole.
Williams made it 1-0 at the 3:05 mark right after a Capitals power play ended when he beat Berra with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from behind the goal line by Chimera.
Just over four minutes later, center Nicklas Backstrom got the puck behind the net and fed to Ovechkin in the right circle. He scored his 10th of the season on a one-timer through the five hole.
The Capitals weren't finished as Carlson's slapper from the point put the Capitals up 3-0 at the 10:00 mark and Schmidt capped the first period scoring on a blast over Berra's shoulder with 43 seconds left.
Washington last notched a four-goal stanza on Jan. 25, 2014, in the second period at Montreal.
Pickard stopped all 11 Washington shots in the second period, including right winger T.J. Oshie's breakaway attempt.
Colorado got on the board early in the second after a Washington turnover in its own zone. McLeod finished off a pretty passing sequence when he sent a wrist shot past Holtby at 5:31.
Then with 1:59 left in the period, MacKinnon scored his ninth of the season after a scramble in front during a power play and suddenly the Avalanche was back in it.
NOTES: Capitals LW Andre Burakovsky was a healthy scratch. LW Justin Williams moved up from the third to the second line with C Evgeny Kuznetsov and RW Marcus Johansson, while LW Stanislav Galiev moved into the lineup. ... Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower body) missed his fifth game. ... Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov (groin) and C John Mitchell (oblique) remain day-to-day. D Nate Guenin was a healthy scratch. ... Colorado completes its seven-game road trip Monday at Winnipeg. ... The Capitals began the day 4-0 in Saturday games. ... The Avalanche entered the game second in the NHL in blocked shots, with 339.