Takeaways: Vladimir Tarasenko scores twice as Wild win fifth in a row by blanking Capitals 5-0

The Wild are at their most depleted, but they sure aren’t playing like it.

Still riding the momentum from Quinn Hughes’ arrival, they dismissed Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals 5-0 on Tuesday night at Grand Casino Arena for a fifth straight win despite losing another player to injury.

“As a team right now, we’re on our game,” Marcus Foligno said. “We’re doing all the little things right, and the guys that come up in the lineup, they buy-in right away, and it’s easy for them.”

Kirill Kaprizov set a franchise record for power-play goals while also moving past Mikko Koivu for the second-most goals all time for the Wild.

Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals, scoring twice off Danila Yurov assists, and Matt Boldy completed the rout with his second career shorthanded goal.

BOXSCORE: Wild 5, Washington 0

NHL standings

Then there was Hughes, who continued to skate as-advertised since the blockbuster trade Friday that sent him to the Wild from Vancouver for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a first-round draft pick.

Hughes factored into Kaprizov’s second-period power play goal in yet another victory for the Wild against a top-10 team that showed again just how far the Wild have come.

They were schooled 5-1 by Washington on Oct. 17 during their early-season slump, but the Wild continue to make that blip look like an anomaly — especially since they’re dominating lately while being shorthanded.

“That wasn’t our game,” Foligno said. “It wasn’t really our style. We were slow, lethargic; the whole October was. It’s a fun, energized group right now.”

Just as Foligno returned from a knee sprain suffered Nov. 26 at Chicago, Marcus Johansson and Zach Bogosian were the latest to join the injured list, putting the Wild down six regulars before Daemon Hunt left in the first period after a collision with the Capitals’ Ethen Frank; coach John Hynes didn’t have an update on Hunt.

“I feel like I’ve been doing that mainly my whole career,” Hughes said. “This team makes it really easy, too, with our skill we got.”

The Wild extended their point streak at home to 13 games (11-0-2), which is tied for the longest in franchise history.

Hughes didn’t pick up a point on the Wild’s first goal, but he was a catalyst.

He helped the Wild enter the offensive zone, getting the puck deep before defensive partner Brock Faber and Yurov worked the play to Tarasenko for a shot from the slot that clipped Capitals goalie and Lakeville’s Charlie Lindgren (27 saves) before flying past him at 2:09.

“He makes the right play at the right times,” Hynes said of Hughes, “and he knows what to do with the puck before he gets it.”

“[Tarasenko’s] got some crazy pop on his shot,” Hughes said. “I was pretty close to him on that first goal, and that was crazy.”

Lindgren and Gustavsson traded breakaway saves later in the first, and the back-and-forth spilled over into the second period.

Finally, Kaprizov netted a key insurance goal at 12:51 when he backhanded a rebound from Hughes’ shot hitting Joel Eriksson Ek.

Kaprizov’s 70 power-play goals are a franchise high, and his 206 career goals are only 13 away from tying Marian Gaborik for the Wild record.

“He’s just got such a gift for scoring and is so highly skilled,” Hughes said. “...I just feel like it’s gonna take five, 10, 15 or 20 games, and then we’ll really be rolling. That’s just how it goes, and then it’ll be really fun.”

The Wild newcomer was also on the ice in the third period when Yurov sent a faceoff win to Tarasenko, who corralled the bouncing puck and wired it by Lindgren at 4:23. Three of Tarasenko’s five goals have come in the last five games.

The veteran forward turned playmaker on the Wild’s next goal, with Tarasenko dropping the puck behind him as he powered into Washington territory before backhanding it over to Yurov for the putback at 8:53.

“He’s got some jump to him and some explosiveness,” Hynes said of Tarasenko. “He’s a willing skater, and that’s allowing him to get into situations where he can use his shot or make some plays.”

With a goal and two assists, Yurov secured his first three-point game. Tarasenko had his second of the season, but this was his best game with the Wild after coming over in an offseason trade from Detroit.

“I told [Tarasenko] thank you,” Yurov said about the setup.

The Wild power play went 1-for-4, and Gustavsson nabbed his 14th career shutout. He’s 7-1-1 over his last nine starts with a .938 save percentage, 1.64 goals-against average and two shutouts.

Since Nov. 1, the Wild are 17-3-2.

Until the Wild are back to full strength, this is how they have to play to stay up in the standings: They need their leaders to set the tone and their depth to contribute.

Kaprizov had a timely goal on the power play, with Hughes putting the play in motion, but the new-look second line of Tarasenko, Yurov and Yakov Trenin was a handful.

That’s the type of lift that can sustain the Wild while they wait for their go-tos up front like Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Johansson to heal.

“When you do that, you give yourself a good chance to win most nights.”