No matter how many goals Alex Ovechkin scores, his teammates still get a thrill out of watching him put the puck in the net. That was the case, when Ovechkin scored his League-leading 40th goal of the season and the Washington Capitals rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 at Verizon Center. Ovechkin reached the 40-goal mark for the eighth time in his 11 NHL seasons. It's the sixth time he's the first player in the NHL to reach 40 goals in a season. Bobby Hull and Phil Esposito are the only other players to be the first to reach 40 goals in six different seasons.
After Ovechkin tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal 4:35 into the third period, defenseman Dmitri Orlov got the game-winner with 5:04 to play. Defenseman Brooks Orpik scored in the second period and Braden Holtby made 30 saves for Washington. Orlov broke a 2-2 tie when his backhand shot banked off the skate of goaltender Darcy Kuemper and went into the net for his seventh goal of the season.
The Capitals' 45 wins are tied for the most by a team through 60 games of a season in NHL history, matching the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. Washington is also the first team to earn 94 points in its first 60 games since Detroit did it in 1995-96.
Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter scored for Minnesota, which has lost three in a row after winning its first four games under interim coach John Torchetti. Kuemper made 24 saves in his first career start against the Capitals. Koivu scored a power-play goal with 42 seconds remaining in the first period to put the Wild up 1-0. His wrist shot from the top of the right circle deflected off the stick of Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner and past Holtby. The goal was Koivu's 13th of the season.
The Capitals have been plagued by sluggish starts; they have allowed the first goal in seven consecutive games and in 14 of their past 17. Orpik tied the game 49 seconds into the second period when his shot from the right circle deflected off Marco Scandella and went past Kuemper for his third of the season. Orpik has six points in his past six games, and his three goals are an NHL career high.
Niederreiter gave the Wild the lead again at 5:05. On a breakaway, Niederreiter beat Capitals defenseman Taylor Chorney to the net and scored his 12th of the season. He has six points in his past seven games. Ovechkin tied the game with a one-timer from the left circle. Capitals defenseman John Carlson did not play because of an upper-body injury.
Wild Quotes
John Torchetti: "That's the game of hockey. We've got to do a better job and we've got to get that save when we need it there. We can't let it get us down, we've just got to keep battling and be ready for Florida."Darcy Kuemper: "I saw him, just tried to get as much ice as I can [for Ovechkin's goal]. Probably should have been a little more patient, but when you see him [Ovechkin] winding up, you try to get as big as you can."
Caps Quotes
Alex Ovechkin: "I say it all the time; every year it's harder and harder to score goals in this League. If you get 40 goals, you get lucky and you get rewarded for it.""We're not happy with how we started the game two games in a row. We just have to fix it and we have a group of guys here in the locker room to make a change and we have to realize in future we can't play only two periods."
Other Results
Tampa Bay @ New Jersey 4-0
Boston @ Carolina 4-1
Edmonton @ Anaheim 1-2 OT
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