Washington Capitals defeat Minnesota Wild, 3-1

That brings us to the end of a first period — Minnesota Wild 0, Washington Capitals 0. Minnesota Wild edged the shot clock 12-3, and they controlled most of the territorial pressure.

Neither side could solve the goaltending — a grinding, scoreless frame.

Dan Vladar was under siege with 11 highlighted stops.

On the power play, Minnesota Wild went 0-for-2.

That brings us to the end of a second period — Minnesota Wild 1, Washington Capitals 2. Washington Capitals edged the shot clock 16-4, and they controlled most of the territorial pressure.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygård opened the scoring for Washington Capitals at 2:49, Justin Brazeau tied it for Minnesota Wild at 5:08, and Oskar Sundqvist put Washington Capitals in front at 15:53.

Yaroslav Askarov was under siege with 14 highlighted stops.

On the power play, Washington Capitals went 0-for-1.

Washington Capitals owned the last five minutes and carried the momentum into the break.

That brings us to the end of a third period — Minnesota Wild 0, Washington Capitals 1. Washington Capitals edged the shot clock 16-6, and they controlled most of the territorial pressure.

Auston Matthews extended the lead for Washington Capitals at 14:24.

Yaroslav Askarov was under siege with 15 highlighted stops.

On the power play, Minnesota Wild went 0-for-1 while Washington Capitals went 0-for-1.

Washington Capitals owned the last five minutes and carried the momentum into the break.