Ovechkin scores 1st goal of season, Capitals cruise past Wild

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 898th NHL goal, and the Washington Capitals won their fourth straight game, 5-1 against the Minnesota Wild at Capital One Arena on Friday.

Dylan Strome steered a face-off to Ovechkin, who scored his first goal of the season on a one-timer from just outside the right circle to make it 3-1 at 1:19 of the third period.

“If it was I did not have any chances, it [would be] kind of like, ‘Oh [no].’ But no, the chances was there," Ovechkin said of scoring his first of the season. "Sometimes you just have to be patient and one goes in and I hope next game it’s going to be more.”

Strome finished with two goals and two assists, and Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (4-1-0). Martin Fehervary had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 13 saves.

“It felt like we had speed a lot through the neutral zone, which led to chances off the rush, and we were getting pucks back,” Strome said. “I thought tonight, every time it felt like we got a chance, we were getting the rebounds and continuing play. All four lines had some really good shifts in the O-zone.”

Marcus Johansson scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 40 saves for the Wild (2-3-0), who have been outscored 10-3 in the first two games of a five-game road trip. Matt Boldy had his goal streak end at four games, but he had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (four goals, five assists).

“They were more competitive on the puck in [the slot] and I think all over the ice,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “We weren’t at a level I would say from a speed perspective and a competitive perspective to give ourselves a chance to win tonight.”

Strome gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 17:52 of the first period when he went to the net on a rush and tipped in a backdoor pass from Ovechkin, who was coming down the right side.

Johansson tied it 1-1 at 16:47 of the second period, controlling a loose puck before scoring with a snap shot from the high slot through a screen in front.

Prior to Johansson's goal, Minnesota’s previous nine tallies had come on the power play.

“We did step it up there for a bit and we got some pressure on, but, I don’t know, not good enough,” Johansson said.

The Capitals regained the lead 31 seconds later on a goal from Aliaksei Protas, who scored five-hole on a backdoor pass attempt from the bottom of the left circle to make it 2-1 at 17:18.

“It was a puck battle high in the defensive zone,” Hynes said. “We lost it, they won it and they scored a goal. That’s indicative of the game.”

After Ovechkin scored his first of the season, Strome scored his second of the night by knocking in his own rebound in front to extend the lead to 4-1 at 11:32 of the third period.

“He’s a great playmaker, but you can see he can score goals as well,” Ovechkin said of Strome. “Obviously, he was driving to the net and find the rebounds and find the pucks. So, he deserves it.”

The Capitals made it 5-1 at 18:03 when John Carlson's shot from the point deflected off Wilson and past Gustavsson during a power play.

“We were just going in spurts all night and they were consistently obviously much better than us throughout the game,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said.

NOTES: Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian did not play in the third period. Hynes did not have an update on his condition after the game. … The Wild went 0-for-2 on the power play after entering the game 10-for-21. … Ovechkin has recorded 40 points (21 goals, 19 assists) in 26 career games against Minnesota. He scored his 567th career goal at even strength, passing Gordie Howe (566) for the second-most in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky (617).