WASHINGTON (AP) Alex Ovechkin scored for the first time this season, Dylan Strome added a pair of goals and the Washington Capitals beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Ovechkin’s third-period shot pinged off the left post and in, and the crowd roared its approval when the counter above one corner of the ice was flipped over to 898, his new career total. The NHL’s career leader in goals also had an assist as part of a dominant showing at home for Washington.
Logan Thompson allowed only ex-Capital Marcus Johansson’s tally in the second. That tied it at 1, but Aliaksei Protas answered 31 seconds later.
Minnesota entered the game with the league’s top power play, having scored on 10 of 21 opportunities. But the Capitals only took two penalties and were able to kill them off. Washington finished with a 45-14 edge in shots.
Ovechkin passed up a good shooting opportunity from the right side, instead finding Strome for an easy tap-in to open the scoring in the first. Washington failed to score on a double-minor penalty on Minnesota’s Jake Middleton in the second. Then Johansson beat Thompson with wrist shot with 3:13 to play in that period.
That snapped a streak in which the last nine Minnesota goals had come on the power play, and it was just the third 5-on-5 score allowed by Washington on the season.
The Capitals answered quickly with Protas’ fourth goal of 2025-26. The 6-foot-6 forward was left open to the left of the goal. With teammate Connor McMichael on the opposite side of the crease, Protas sent the puck toward the net and it slipped past goalie Filip Gustavsson.
Ovechkin’s goal in the third came immediately after Strome won a faceoff to him in the offensive zone. Then Strome knocked in a rebound to make it 4-1. Tom Wilson added a power-play goal with 1:57 remaining.
Wild: At Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Capitals: Host Vancouver on Sunday.
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