Takeaways: Capitals shut down Wild offense in 5-1 victory

WASHINGTON – The Wild finally snapped their scoring skid.

But so did Alex Ovechkin.

After passing Wayne Gretzky last season to become the NHL’s all-time goals leader, Ovechkin’s first of the season helped Washington run away 5-1 Friday at Capital One Arena in another grim night for the Wild’s 5-on-5 offense.

They did, however, finally net their first non-power play goal to end a three-game hiatus, but the Wild (2-3) had a season-low 14 shots.

Dylan Strome scored twice for the Capitals and assisted on Ovechkin’s goal.

“They deserved to win,” coach John Hynes said of the Capitals. “I thought they were competitive on the puck ... all over the ice. We weren’t at a level I would say from a speed perspective and a competitive perspective to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Forward Marcus Johansson was responsible for the Wild’s sixth shot, a game-tying snap off the stick from deep in the slot with 3 minutes, 13 seconds to go in the second period that sailed by a Jake Middleton screen in front of goalie Logan Thompson.

But only 31 seconds later, Washington responded to retake a lead it would protect the rest of the way.

Aliaksei Protas jammed in a low 2-on-1 pass at the back post and then 1:19 into the third period, Ovechkin buried a one-timer off a faceoff for his 898th career goal.

“It was a puck battle high in the zone,” Hynes said. “We lost it. They won it, and they scored a goal. That’s indicative of the game.”

Ovechkin also moved by Gordie Howe for the second-most even-strength goals at 567. Ovechkin, who is also closing in on 1,500 games, has 21 goals in 26 career games vs. the Wild — his best goal-per-game clip against any NHL franchise.

“He’s a tough guy to contain,” Hynes said. “Obviously, he had the nice goal on the faceoff. He’s a guy that you have to be aware of. We just didn’t execute what we needed to in that situation.”

“We were a little lackadaisical,” forward Marcus Foligno said. “Just urgency on loose pucks, they got to a lot of first ones, but we backed up and let them just kind of make another pass unmatched physically.”

Before that, the Wild blanked on their first of only two power plays. This was the first time this season the Wild power play hasn’t capitalized, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson did an admirable job keeping Washington from earning an early blowout. Gustavsson finished with 40 saves, including 10 on the penalty kill to help deny four of the Capitals’ five chances.

“Gus did everything he could tonight,” defenseman Brock Faber said. “That’s just not acceptable from top to bottom.”

Two of those power play looks came together as a four-minute high-sticking penalty against Middleton in the first minute of the second period, but the Wild couldn’t parlay that momentum into an immediate boost.

“We were just going in spurts all night,” Faber said.

Hynes didn’t have an update on defenseman Zach Bogosian, who didn’t finish the game after blocking a shot in the second period.

The Wild’s five 5-on-5 goals this season are tied for the second fewest in the league.

“We gotta play with the puck more I think, first of all,” Johansson said. “The more we have the puck, the more we can create. I think it starts there. Defend a little harder, kill plays quicker and go the other way and try and hold onto the puck a little more.”

BOXSCORE: Washington 5, Wild 1

NHL standings

The Capitals’ aggressive press limited time and space all over the ice, and the Wild were clunky as a result.

“Felt like you got in the O-zone and then you were pretty much right back in the neutral zone,” Foligno said.

One of the Wild’s longest shifts in the offensive zone actually came right before Johansson’s goal when a reworked line of Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a try on net.

But Washington reset, and the Wild faded to reveal a tale of two teams: While the Capitals thrive on their cohesiveness, the Wild are still trying to find their consistency.

“It felt like they were just so clean on their breakouts, clean up the ice,” Faber said. “Yeah, that’s a style of game that we want to play the way they played.”