The late lead held this time in a game the Capitals dominated for the final 40 minutes. Two defensemen scored, rookie goalie Semyon Varlamov shook off a soft goal to stop the other 29 shots he faced and Brooks Laich sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute.
It all added up to a satisfying 3-1 win for Washington over the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Verizon Center. The two points did come at a cost, however. Forward Mike Knuble will miss three-to-four weeks with a broken finger suffered in the first period.
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The Caps (12-3-4, 28 points) moved back into first place in the Eastern Conference. Afterwards, they immediately jumped on a plane for the short flight to Newark where Washington plays the second-place New Jersey Devils (13-4, 26 points). The Caps have lost to New Jersey twice already this season – once in a shootout.
Defensemen Mike Green and Brian Pothier both scored for Washington to erase a 1-0 deficit. The Caps buzzed all over the ice in the third period, generating chance after quality chance against Minnesota goalie Josh Harding. But the Wild backup was up to the challenge even after a pair of subpar games in his last two starts. He finished with more saves on Friday night – 38 on 40 shots – than he had made all season (35). Niklas Backstrom had started 12 games in a row in goal for the Wild.
“I did tell them we’re trying to be too cute with our shots” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “Instead of trying to pick the upper two inches of the net, just try to pick an area of the net … . But [Harding] hadn’t played well lately and I knew he’d be a very determined young man tonight.”
Minnesota was playing its second game in as many nights and had lost a shootout at Tampa Bay on Thursday, not arriving in Washington until almost 4 a.m. Friday. That’s not conducive to holding off one of the NHL’s top skating teams. Then again – the Caps knew that and took full advantage in the third period, where holding leads has at times been an adventure.
“It’s one of the things we had been struggling with,” said Pothier, who broke a 1-1 tie exactly two minutes into the third period on a beautiful pass from rookie Mathieu Perreault. “It’s important this time of year to start really making a commitment to holding leads and at 2-1 [early in the third] we have to shut down teams. That’s the sign of a great team. We’ve been good all year. But if we want to take that next step that’s the time we need to shut them down.”
Green’s goal tied the game at 1 at 5:39 of the second period. He drove into the slot and Tomas Fleischmann found him with a sweet pass from the right wing. It was Green’s first power-play goal of the year — he had a team-record 18 last season — and third overall.
“Only a few guys can make that pass going down on their off hand and Flash is one of them,” Green said.
As for Knuble, he was hurt in the first period while crashing the net — as he does so often. But this time he bumped into Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky and catapulted into the opposing goal. Knuble broke his fall by landing on his hand and immediately skated to the bench and then the dressing room. He did not return after playing just four shifts and 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Team officials announced after the game Knuble would need surgery and miss a minimum of three weeks. The 37-year-old power forward has five goals and 10 assists through 19 games. He isn’t used to missing time. Knuble has played all 82 games four of the last five years and accomplished that six different times in his career.
