Capitals vs. Wild Recap: Wild With Worry Free Win in Washington

Joel Eriksson Ek’s two goal game leads the Wild to a 5 to 1 win over the Capitals.

In Minnesota and Washington’s second meeting of the season the Wild silenced their hosts 5 to 1 in D.C.

Here’s Sunday night’s Plus/Minus:

Plus: Alex Ovechkin’s third period assist is the 1,399th point of his NHL career.

Minus: The multiple too many men penalties called against Washington.

Eight more notes on the game:

1. Just 36 seconds after puck drop Minnesota put themselves on the scoreboard. With a set play that started behind Cam Talbot’s net Joel Eriksson Ek found himself on a breakaway and he stuffed the puck between Vitek Vanecek’s knees.
2. And 61 seconds after that the Wild extended their lead to two. Tyson Jost took the puck on an odd mad rush and rifled a fine shot up and over Vanecek’s glove.
3. The Capitals the found their legs but still ended the opening twenty minutes down by two. Washington outshot their guests 10 to 6 in the first frame.
4. The next goal was Minnesota’s as well, Eriksson Ek once again. Picking up a Jordan Greenway rebound in the crease Eriksson Ek poked the puck past Vanecek with ease.
5. A second low volume shooting period once again benefitted the Wild. Both teams registered six shots in the second frame.
6. 30 seconds into a must win period for Washington the Wild struck again. A nice zone entry set up a Marcus Foligno shot from the slot that Vanecek couldn’t get a hand on.
7. Midway through the third The Capitals finally broke through. During a delayed penalty Ovechkin put the puck on net before Garnet Hathaway’s skate deflected it past Talbot to make the score 4 to 1.
8. With an extra attacker on the ice the Wild’s Nicolas Deslauriers tallied an empty net goal to complete the contest’s scoring.