Minnesota Wild Edge Washington Capitals, 4-2; Brandon Duhaime Scores Against Former Team

Minnesota Wild Edge Washington Capitals, 4-2; Brandon Duhaime Scores Against Former Team

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Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals lost to the Minnesota Wild by a score of 4-2 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night to fall to 47-16-9 (.715 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 17 saves in the loss.

Washington’s Lines

Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Aliaksei Protas
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Anthony Beauvillier

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Lindgren
Logan Thompson

  • Scratched
    • D Dylan McIlrath
    • D Alexander Alexeyev
    • RW Ethen Frank
  • Injured
    • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
    • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
    • RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Minnesota’s Lines

Mats Zuccarello — Marco Rossi — Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson — Frederick Gaudreau — Gustav Nyquist
Marcus Foligno – Ryan Hartman — Vinnie Hinostroza
Yakov Trenin — Devin Shore — Justin Brazeau

Jacob Middleton — Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin — Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill — Zach Bogosian

Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury

  • Scratched
    • C Brendan Gaunce
    • D Cameron Crotty
  • Injured
    • LW Kirill Kaprizov (lower-body)
    • C Joel Eriksson Ek (undisclosed)
    • D Declan Chisholm (undisclosed)

First Period

Scoring

  • 6:00, 1-0 Minnesota: Merrill ripped the puck from the point that went through a maze of bodies and over the glove of Lindgren after Trenin threw a shot on Lindgren from the the right circle.
  • 7:08: 1-1: Roy hesitated and wristed a shot over the glove of Gustavsson with Mangiapane and Hartman in front of him after Raddysh set him up with a pass from the left half-wall. Roy has recorded three points (two assists) in his last four games. Roy’s three career goals versus Minnesota are tied for the most he has scored against a single franchise (Vegas Golden Knights). Raddysh reached the 20-assist mark for the first time in his career.
  • 8:19, 2-1 Washington: Duhaime hammered a rebound in the low slot after Beauvillier retrieved a loose puck, skated out further from the cage, and ripped a shot that was turned aside by Gustavsson. Dowd was right there at the net to throw the puck back to Duhaime. Minnesota challenged the goal for goaltender interference with Dowd crowding Gustavsson but it stood. Duhaime matched his single-season career high in goals (2022-23: 51 games with Minnesota). Beauvillier has recorded five points (two goals) in nine games since being acquired on March 7. Four of Beauvillier’s five points with Washington have come in the last four games.

Stats

  • 8-8 in shots
  • .65 Washington on faceoffs
  • Both teams failed to score on their first power play
  • 9-1 Minnesota in hits
  • 6-5 Minnesota in blocked shots
  • 8-6 Washington in giveaways
Screenshots: Natural StatTrick

Second Period

Scoring

  • 12:25, 2-2: Boldy wristed a shot that went through a screen, off of Gaudreau, and over the glove of Lindgren from the top after Johansson bounced a pass off of the right half-wall to him.
  • 19:52, 3-2 Minnesota: Hinostroza won the race to a loose puck behind Washington’s net, Rossi retrieved it, and Boldy scooped and put it on his forehand to beat Lindgren over the glove.

Stats

  • 22-14 Washington in shots
    • including 14-6 in the second
  • .6 Washington on faceoffs
  • Minnesota scored once on two power plays through 40 minutes
    • Washington was held off of the board on two opportunities
  • 19-7 Minnesota in hits
  • 10-6 Minnesota in blocked shots
  • 12-8 Washington in giveaways

Third Period

Scoring

  • 18:39, 4-2 (ENG): Gaudreau got the puck after a Wild skater blocked a shot in Dubois’ shooting lane, skated ahead to the neutral zone, and wristed a shot in from the red line.

Stats

  • 30-21 Washington in shots
    • Including 9-7 in the third
  • .59 Washington on faceoffs
  • 25-13 Minnesota in hits
  • 21-9 Minnesota in blocked shots
  • 18-15 Washington in giveaways

Washington’s lead over the Carolina Hurricanes, who have a game in hand, for first in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference remained at 13 points.

Next game: Sunday vs. Buffalo Sabres (3 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077

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