WASHINGTON (AP) — Filip Gustavsson made the stoppage when he saw the puck come out of the corner of his eye just before it entered the net. His Minnesota teammates scored three goals making sure Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren couldn’t see the puck at all.
Captain Jared Spurgeon scored two goals, fellow defenseman Jonas Brodin also netted a traffic goal and the Wild beat the Capitals 4-2 on Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to three games. All three came with a big forward who screened Lindgren: 6-foot-6 Jordan Greenway on Spurgeon’s first goal, 6-2 Ryan Reaves on Brodin and 6-2 Brandon Duhaime on Spurgeon’s second.
“We had a lot of great screens, guys that would go to the net and wreak havoc there,” Spurgeon said. “They are big screens. The keeper can’t get out of the net and you reduce the angles and you can’t see them either. That’s something we preach all the time.
As Gustavsson pointed out, it’s hard for a goalkeeper to stop a shot he can’t see. He made the highlight of the night on Marcus Johansson with less than four minutes left, slamming the puck heel to heel with his skate blades as it was on the goal line and stopping him. to cross it.
“I don’t know how it didn’t work out, but that’s how it goes sometimes, I guess,” Johansson said.
Gustavsson, who finished with 34 saves, didn’t do it by chance.
“You have to stop it somehow,” he said. “You’re just trying to figure out how to move that part of your body.”
Big bodies blocking Lindgren’s view made up for the Wild being trailed 36-22 by the Capitals, who were playing the second half of a straight game after rallying to win in overtime on Monday against the New Islanders. York. The Wild erased multiple deficits in this one and sealed it with an empty net from Joel Eriksson Ek to get their road trip off to a good start.
“Hopefully we can keep that momentum going,” coach Dean Evason said.
Gustavsson was excellent all night, validating the coaching staff’s decision to pitch him instead of returning to three-time Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury. His 12 first-period saves helped Minnesota keep the game within reach despite only managing three shots on goal in the first 20 minutes.
Alex Ovechkin assisted on goals for the Capitals by Martin Fehervary and Dylan Strome, which ended a four-game scoring drought. Washington has lost four of its six games, going 0 for 13 on the power play over that streak.
“Like everything in a long season, it goes through ups and downs and times when it snaps and rolls and times when it doesn’t,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’ll keep working on it, and we know we’ve got the right guys there.”
NOTES: Minnesota’s Connor Dewar had two assists in his second multipoint game of the season and third of his NHL career. … Capitals center Nic Dowd will be out “a bit” with an undisclosed lower-body injury, Laviolette said. … Winger Anthony Mantha was a healthy forfeit for Washington for the third time in five games, replaced by Nicolas Aube-Kubel Center Evgeny Kuznetsov was demoted to the fourth line after a tough game Monday night at Long Island.
The Wild are in Carolina on Thursday night.
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