Wild can't get on track against Caps in home return

ST. PAUL -- The Wild had some momentum early. It hit a pair of posts in the first period. It had its chances to finish. But in the end, the defending Stanley Cup champions showed why that title is theirs until someone takes it away.
Minnesota returned from a 17-day, seven-game road trip Tuesday, losing 5-2 to the Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center.
The loss was the Wild's first in regulation on home ice this season.

Washington never trailed in the contest, getting a pair of goals from Dmitry Orlov, including the opening salvo just 6:33 into the game.
But even after that goal, the Wild very nearly equalled the score. First, it was Jared Spurgeon kissing the post. Seconds later, Jason Zucker hammered the crossbar and looked towards the heavens.
A few minutes after that, in the dying moments of the period, Washington finished off a rush with a crushing goal -- literally and figuratively -- when Tom Wilson blitzed the crease and scored past Devan Dubnyk before running straight into the goaltender.
Dubnyk stayed down momentarily but ended up staying in the game.
Unfortunately for the Wild, the damage was done.
"I thought we played as good as them, but they're the best team in the League at scoring off the rush," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "They proved it again tonight."
After the clubs traded goals in the second period, with Andre Burakovsky netting his second and Mikko Koivu scoring his third, the Wild played its strongest eight minutes of hockey of the night.

Following Koivu's goal, Wilson and Marcus Foligno dropped the gloves in a spirited duel at center ice. After it was over, Foligno turned to his teammates on the bench and mouthed, "Let's go."
"You want to stand up for your teammate. Thought it was the right time," Foligno said. "Obviously we got a step closer with the goal, so just a good time to do it."
For the rest of the period, he appeared to be correct.
The Wild pushed for another goal for the next several minutes, but Pheonix Copley was there every step of the way preserving the two-goal advantage until intermission.
Minnesota's momentum petered out after that.
"There's momentum there, Mikko puts one in, we get a little life and then Moose goes out and does that. That's huge. We were fired up," said Wild forward Charlie Coyle. "Then you can't convert and at that point, you've gotta stay positive, you know it's gonna come, we build that momentum and you can't let it die down. You just have to do whatever you can, if you're not putting them in the back of the net, just getting those opportunities and working. I guess we got away from it."
Ultimately, the Wild just didn't finish like it did on its historic road trip, in which the team set a franchise record for most wins in a single sojourn.
Even Sunday against the Blues, when the Wild was clearly running on fumes, it was able to finish just enough chances to win the game.
Tuesday against the Capitals, those shots were bouncing off posts. On the rebounds Copley left out there, the Wild was just a half step too slow. The crisp passes had just a little bounce.
"It just felt like some of the mistakes that we made were none that we've been making over the last while," said Wild forward Eric Staal. "Against a good team, if Duby's not standing on his head, which he still made some pretty good saves, it's going to cost you. Tonight it did."
Related:
Postgame Hat Trick: Capitals 5, Wild 2