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ST. PAUL, Minnesota – The Washington Capitals woke up in Minnesota for the start of a four-game road trip with a pleasant surprise: Tom Wilson was back.
It was the same for the Stanley Cup champions, who started their season defense title rather slowly.
Wilson came back early from his suspension to protect the players and scored a goal in the first period, helping the Capitals calm the Wild with a 5-2 win Tuesday night.
"He's a key player for our team, he brings so much energy to the ice than off the ice, which gives him a huge advantage in getting it back," said Andre Burakovsky, author of 39, a goal and a help.
Dmitry Orlov scored his first two goals of the season and an assist, T.J. Oshie also scored and goalkeeper Pheonix Copley made 26 saves for the Capitals. Wilson found Wilson in the right wing on the front row with captain Alex Ovechkin and center Evgeny Kuznetsov. The reduction by the umpire of the 20-party ban imposed by Wilson for an illegal shielding blow to the head at a preparatory party made him immediately eligible again.
"It was a good game from the guys, and it was good to put 60 minutes aside," said Wilson. "Let's hope we can start this thing a bit."
Mikko Koivu and Matt Dumba scored for Wild, who played at home for the first time in 17 days after a 5-2 win over his record of seven career wins over a franchise. They fell to 5-1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center, becoming the last NHL team to lose at home in terms of regulations this season.
"You're spoiled, they have not been as good as in the last 12 games," said coach Bruce Boudreau, whose club had been 10-2 in the previous four weeks.
The Wild dropped the first goal in 13 of his 18 games, but was tied for the league's best record in this situation at 8-3-1. Orlov's rapid shot scratched the crossbar and found the back of the upper right corner in just 6:33.
Then, Orlov, who had just separated from the usual blue line partner Matt Niskanen in an attempt to search for the spark of freshman Todd Reirden, set up Wilson for his debut in the season. Orlov maneuvered around Dumba and powered Wilson with a timer with just 27.4 seconds before the first intermission.
Ryan Suter was chasing Wilson, who was caught between the defender and Devan Dubnyk in a collision that had hit Wild goaltender on the ice, left him on the ground and stunned him for a moment. Wilson was assessed a penalty for interference from a goalkeeper while scoring the goal. He was second in the NHL in penalty minutes last season.
"The puck went in the goal before it touched the goalkeeper, so you could not do anything about it," Boudreau said. "It's like that he's playing."
Eric Staal thought he had a goal for the Wild early in the second period, but he was sidelined because he pitched the puck, one of the Wild's many near-misses. Instead, Burakovsky scored shortly thereafter for a 3-0 lead. Suter and Dumba, the first blue duo, were on the ice for each of the first three goals.
"We did not seem to be well connected, and some of the mental mistakes we made will cost you a lot against a good offensive team," Staal said.
The Wild scored 14:03 without a shot on goal, but Copley stopped Staal's wrist shot. Koivu's backhander was spinning through Copley's protections to put the Wild on the board about a minute later, and Marcus Foligno was trying to maintain his momentum by dropping the gloves and fighting Wilson. The Wild made 22 of his 28 shots in the second half of the match, but he simply could not convert enough of those chances.
Wilson has just finished serving his fourth suspension in just over a year, for a blind side blow to an opponent 's head during a preseason game. His presence gave Washington a boost.
"I did not expect him to have a match as strong as him," Rierden said.
Dumba's goal was Minnesota's only goal in six power play opportunities. The Capitals, who came in the evening as the league's worst opponent, have allowed six power play goals in four previous games.
Game notes
This was the Capitals' eighth consecutive victory over the Wild, whose last win of the series was won in Washington on March 5, 2015. All the victories of the Capitals in the series, except one, are regularized. . … It was the third match in two goals of the career of 382 players Orlov. … Staal scored 30 goals and amassed 44 assists in 77 career games against the Capitals, his most points against another team. … With his 341st career goal, Parise has succeeded Dave Christian will become the top scorer in the history of the NHL among Minnesota-born players. … Dubnyk stopped 28 shots.
FOLLOWING
Capitals: play Winnipeg Wednesday.
Wild: Vancouver host, leading the Pacific Division on Thursday.
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