POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 5, Wild 2

Whip It Good - Lugging a two-game losing streak with them on a weeklong, four-game road trip against quality opponents, the Caps were in need of a lift. They played to a pedestrian 2-2-1 mark during a just completed five-game homestand and are still finding consistency elusive as the season's first quarter nears its end.

That lift came in the form of an opinion from an independent arbitrator, a 43-page document concerning the fate of the Capitals' own No. 43, Tom Wilson. In that document, Neutral Discipline Arbitrator Shyam Das shortened Wilson's 20-game league suspension to 14 games, making the Washington winger immediately eligible to play in Tuesday's road trip opener against the Wild in Minnesota.
Buoyed by Wilson's return and with their forward corps now all present and accounted for, and slotted into their proper places for the first time this season, the Caps promptly went out and put a whipping on the Wild, 5-2.
"Obviously it was great to get him back," says teammate and former Wilson roommate Andre Burakovsky. "He is a key player for our team. He brings so much energy, both on the ice and off the ice, so it was a huge life for the team to get him back earlier than expected. I think he had a really strong game today. He obviously got a goal in his first game back and then some dirty works. I think he is a huge guy for us on the [penalty kill] and it showed today."
Wilson made his presence felt in his first game back scoring a goal and getting whistled for goaltender interference on the same sequence, getting into a fight with the Wild's Marcus Foligno and logging 5:23 worth of shorthanded ice time on a night in which Washington was down a dude for a significant total of the night, 11:27 altogether.
For the first time since they hoisted the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas last June 7, the Caps had their top nine forwards intact and in their proper slots in the lineup. And on the front end of a set of back-to-back games, they earned two points without any of their forwards playing more than 20 minutes. Lars Eller led Caps forwards with 19:23 in ice time. Eller played a strong game, logging an arduous 7:49 worth of shorthanded time, outpacing all of the team's defensemen in that regard.
Eller's line generated two of the Caps' five goals, and each of Washington's top nine forwards recorded at least a point in the game.
"We knew this road trip was going to be tough," says Wilson, "and we have to put our 'A' game together to have a good result in this building every year. They come hard, it's a great crowd, it's a great place to play hockey and we did a great job at coming out and dictating the play, capitalizing on our chances, and running them out of the rink a little."

Leading Men - Over the last three games - 180 minutes worth of hockey - of their five-game homestand, the Caps owned a lead on the scoreboard for exactly 74 seconds. So getting an early lead on the Wild in Tuesday's trip opener was a big boost for the Caps and goalie Pheonix Copley.
"Every time you do something positive - helping the team, whatever it is - it's giving you a boost," says Burakovsky. "It felt good for all of us to just get a goal there - nice from Orlov - and obviously a great play by Lars. It was nice to get one in the first period and get the boys on the board."
When Burakovsky and Eller combined to set up Dmitry Orlov's first goal of the season at 6:33 of the first, the Caps had their first lead in three games. And when they built on it with Wilson's goal in the final minute of the frame, it marked the first time Washington was able to take a two-goal lead to first intermission since a 7-0 shellacking of the Bruins on Oct. 3 in the season opener.
Copley went through his first four NHL appearances without owning a lead at any point, but he has had the luxury of an early lead in three straight starts now.
"It's great," says Copley of the offensive support. "The guys played really well. It's nice to have an early lead. And of course, when you put up five, that's also good."

Trio Of Triumphs - Copley made the most of his offensive support, making key saves at important times to ensure that the Wild would not be able to manufacture momentum or to climb back into the contest. Minnesota forechecked hard, making for some rugged minutes for the Caps' defense.
"I thought the guys did a great job of eliminating their chances and their time and space," says Copley. "They didn't have a whole lot of Grade As so it was a great job on that defensively for us tonight, and in turn we got a lot of offense."
That was quite literally the case on Washington's fifth goal, when Madison Bowey's blocked shot started the breakout that resulted in T.J. Oshie's ninth goal of the season midway through the third.
As for Copley, he's now the proud owner of his first three-game winning streak in the NHL.
"It's awesome," says Copley. "The guys have been playing great in front of me in eliminating the chances, so it's great that it's working out now and I just want to keep it going.
"I try to take the same approach every game, whether it's a big loss or a big win. I just try to keep it steady as I go. It's nice to win, but at the same time, that game is over and the next one I play is my focus."
In his five appearances this season, Copley has demonstrated a high level of control with his upper body, the ability to sort of shrug shots away and to keep the rebounds off of enemy tape.
"It's just something that I've been working on with [Caps goaltending coach] Scotty [Murray]," says Copley, "and he does a great job of helping me out and adjusting my game to this level. It's a work in progress and it's something we're going to continue to work on."

Mr. November - Orlov's two goals in Tuesday's game were his first two of the season, and the two-goal game is the third of his career. But it's no surprise that Orlov scored his first goal of the season in November.
In his first three partial seasons in the NHL, Orlov did not play any October games. Over his time in the league in which he has played in the season's first month, he has yet to score. In 40 career October games, Orlov has seven assists, but no goals. It's the only month in which he has yet to score in his career.
But November is Orlov's month. He has eight career goals in November, the most he has scored in any month, and his average of .43 points per game in November is his best career rate of any month. And there's still half of this November remaining for the Caps defenseman.
Five-On-Five Alive -After scoring a grand total of seven goals at five-on-five during the life of their five-game homestand, the Caps erupted for five goals at five-on-five against the Wild, four of those coming off the rush.
"We haven't been able to score too many at five-on-five," says Burakovsky, "so it was great to see the lines coming up strong here today and get us on the board. I think that's just what we needed. The past couple of games, we haven't been getting the result we've been looking for, so it felt great being in front today and getting the win."
Five Alive - The Caps went 0-6-1 in their first seven visits to Xcel Energy Center - scoring a total of 10 goals in the seven games - but they've now won five straight over the Wild in St. Paul. Washington's last loss in Minnesota came on Jan. 4, 2014, during the Adam Oates reign behind the Caps' bench. The Caps have scored 17 goals during the life of their five-game winning streak in St. Paul, and they have scored exactly five goals in each of their last three visits.
By The Numbers - Orlov led the Caps with 24:20 in ice time … Oshie led Washington with five shots on net, and Oshie, Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov led the way with five shot attempts each … The Caps were credited with only nine hits on the night, Matt Niskanen leading the way with three of them … Niskanen, Jakub Vrana and John Calrson each had three blocked shots to lead the Caps.