A 4-2 win in the Washington, D.C. was the third straight for the Minnesota Wild as a capacity crowd saw Russian superstars Kirill Kaprizov of the Wild and Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin go head-to-head.
Neither Kaprizov nor Ovechkin scored a goal in the game, which was ultimately decided with a second period burst that saw the Wild score three times. Jared Spurgeon scored the firs tand second goals of the period and Jonas Brodin scored the other goal for Minnesota.
Spurgeon’s first goal game 50 seconds in the period. Brodin scored to tie the game 2-2 with 6:48 left in the middle frame and Spurgeon’s second of the night put Minnesota ahead 3-2 with 1:45 to go in the period.
It was the sixth and seventh goals of the season for Spurgeon and the first for Brodin.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored on an empty net with 54 seconds left in regulation to seal the victory.
Minnesota was out-shot by Washington 35-22 but Filip Gustavsson was strong in goal for the Wild, making 34 saves. The 25-year-old backup goal is 11-3-1 in his last 15 starts.
