Kuemper makes 24 saves, Capitals shut out Ducks

WASHINGTON -- Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves, and Ethan Bear scored his first goal of the season for the Washington Capitals in a 2-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

It was Kuemper’s first shutout of the season. He made 12 saves in the third period.

“I thought he was excellent tonight and exactly what we needed,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said of Kuemper. “In the beginning, we weren't executing with the puck at a really high level offensively, so we needed him to keep that clean. A huge shutout for him.”

Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals (21-15-6), who played their third straight without Alex Ovechkin because of a lower-body injury.

“Every time you miss the big piece like Alex, a lot of guys have to step up,” Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov said. “Maybe not the most exciting game tonight, but we got the job done. That's what's most important for us.”

John Gibson made 26 saves for the Ducks (15-28-1), who have lost three of their past four games. Anaheim was playing the second of a back-to-back after a 5-4 overtime win at the Florida Panthers on Monday.

“We stayed, I thought, pretty sound defensively; didn’t give them too much, even though we weren’t really sharp with our passing and our execution,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “Gibson kept us in the game, and we weathered a little bit of the surge they had in the third period and then we came on [but] we couldn’t score.”

Bear, who signed a two-year contract with the Capitals on Dec. 28, made it 1-0 during 4-on-4 play at 19:22 of the first period. Nick Jensen’s shot from the right face-off circle deflected off T.J. Oshie, and Bear controlled the puck before scoring over a diving Gibson.

It was Bear’s first goal since Jan. 15, 2023, which came with the Vancouver Canucks against the Carolina Hurricanes.

“You forget how that feeling feels,” Bear said. “It's definitely nice to get that out of the way, and now I can just have fun and not think about it.”

Kuemper’s best save came when he got his left pad on Alex Killorn’s chance with 2:37 left in the third and Gibson pulled for an extra attacker.

“It ricocheted off some bodies, and then I just kind of saw it out of the corner of my eye and stuck my leg out and was able to get a piece of it,” Kuemper said.

Wilson scored an empty-net goal at 19:02 for the 2-0 final.

“I thought we did a great job in the third trying to push, had some opportunities certainly, but just couldn’t find a way to get that first one,” Anaheim forward Adam Henrique said.

NOTES: Ovechkin skated Tuesday morning and was a game-time decision. Washington hosts the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. … The Capitals were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and have gone four straight games without allowing a power-play goal, killing 13 in a row. … Washington is 20-2-5 this season when scoring two or more goals. … The Ducks played without defenseman Radko Gudas because of a lower-body injury. … Anaheim forward Frank Vatrano had his season-high four-game point streak end (five points; three goals, two assists).