Capitals 5, Jets 3
WASHINGTON -- Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists, and Nicklas Backstrom and Dmitri Orlov had a goal and an assist each as the Capitals outscored the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Wednesday night.
Defenseman Orlov, who scored in his third straight game, broke a 3-3 tie with 3:38 to play in the second period as Washington (15-5-1) won its third straight.
Kuznetsov added an insurance goal, his eighth of the season, with 6:16 left in the game.
Left winger Alex Ovechkin and right winger Justin Williams also scored as Washington improved to 9-3-1 at home.
Ovechkin's 11th goal of the season gave him 43 goals in 58 games against the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise, his highest total against an opponent.
Defenseman John Carlson and left winger Marcus Johansson had two assists for Washington, and Braden Holtby made 23 saves.
Left winger Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, (10-11-2) and defenseman Tyler Myers and center Mathieu Perreault also scored.
Center Bryan Little had two assists, and Michael Hutchinson stopped 29 shots for the Jets.
Winnipeg has lost eight of its last nine against the Capitals.
Backstrom broke a 2-2 tied midway through the second period when, just after the Capitals killed off a Jets power play, he finished a pretty passing sequence by redirecting defenseman Nate Schmidt's feed by Hutchinson.
The Jets tied it at 13:53 when former the former Capital Perreault wristed a shot from the left circle into the top far corner through a screen.
Washington regained the lead with 3:38 to go in the period when Kuznetsov skated through the Jets zone before dropping the puck off for Orlov, whose shot from the point eluded the screened Hutchinson, making it 4-3.
The Capitals outshot the Jets 15-6 in the first period. Washington jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 72 seconds in when Carlson's shot bounced off the end boards back out in front of the net, where Williams poked it in for his sixth goal.
Holtby, coming off a 1-0 shutout of the Oilers, then surrendered two goals less than seven minutes apart.
Myers tied it when he controlled the puck of a faceoff, skated down the slot unmolested before firing past Holtby at 6:38.
Ladd gave Winnipeg the lead at 13:01 when his wrist shot from high in the slot knuckled past Holtby.
Ovechkin tied it on a power play with 1:14 left on wrist shot that deflected in off Hutchinson's arm.
NOTES: Capitals LW Andre Burakovsky was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last two games. RW Stanislav Galiev was a healthy scratch. ... Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower-body injury) missed his seventh straight game. ... D Paul Postma, D Ben Chiarot and RW Joel Armia were healthy scratches for the Jets. ... The Jets are the most penalized team in the league, averaging 14.4 penalty minutes per game. ... Washington concludes its five-game homestand Friday night vs. Tampa Bay. ... Winnipeg was beginning a stretch of three road games in four nights across three time zones.