Capitals 3, Wild 2
WASHINGTON -- Defenseman Dmitri Orlov scored the go-ahead goal with 5:04 left in the game, and Alex Ovechkin scored his 40th of the season as the Washington Capitals tallied twice in the third period to rally past the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Friday night.
Orlov slid the puck through his own legs to evade a defender in the left circle and then back-handed a shot that evaded goalie Darcy Kuemper for his ninth goal as the Capitals avoided suffering back-to-back regulation losses for the first time this season.
The Capitals (45-11-4) trailed 2-1 entering the third period, but Ovechkin struck at 4:35.
With the Capitals pressing, Kuemper was called for delay of game for knocking the net of its moorings. Less than 30 second later, Ovechkin beat him from his usual spot in the left circle with a one-timer off a pass from defenseman Matt Niskanen.
It's the eighth time in his career Ovechkin, who added an assist, has reached the 40-goal plateau.
Defenseman Brooks Orpik also scored for Washington and center Nicklas Backstrom had two assists.
Braden Holtby stopped 30 shots as the Capitals equaled their win total from all of last year.
Center Mikko Koivu and right winger Nino Niederreiter scored for Minnesota (27-25-10), and defenseman Ryan Suter and right winger Jason Pominville had two assists each.
Kuemper had 24 saves for Minnesota, which has lost three straight.
The Wild, losers of 10 straight against the Eastern Conference, began play four points behind Colorado for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Minnesota carried the play early and, aided by three Washington penalties, outshot the Capitals 12-3 in the first period.
Washington nearly escaped unscathed, but with 42 seconds left in the period, the Wild broke through on a power play when a Koivu's wrist shot from above the right circle deflected slightly off defenseman Karl Alzner's stick and between Holtby's pads.
The Capitals tied it 49 seconds into the second period when Orpik's wrister, which was heading wide of the net, deflected off defenseman Marco Scandella's stick and past Kuemper. It was Orpik's career-high third goal of the season.
The Wild regained the lead at 5:05 when a pass from Suter sent Niederreiter in alone on Holtby with defenseman Taylor Chorney close behind. Niederreiter beat Holtby to the glove side for his 12th of the season, making it 2-1.
NOTES: The Capitals' 44 wins coming in tied them with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the most in NHL history through 59 games. ...Washington was without D John Carlson (lower-body injury), C Michael Latta (flu) and newly acquired D Mike Weber (in Buffalo following the birth of his child). ... C Mikko Koivu played his 743rd game with the Wild, tying Nick Schultz for the franchise record. ... LW Zach Parise (upper body injury), D Christian Folin, and G Devan Dubnyk were the Minnesota scratches.