The Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals faced off for the first time in St. Paul, Minnesota, and for the final time of the regular season on Thursday evening, Mar. 27. The talk of the town, of course, was Alex Ovechkin’s chase to break Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, and he was just six away coming into the game against the Wild.
The Wild were still without Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Declan Chisholm. All have skated but are not ready to rejoin the lineup yet, and it’s likely still a while for Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek. Jonas Brodin was still in the lineup, and Marcus Foligno rejoined the roster after missing the past five games with an injury. The Capitals didn’t have any injuries listed.
The goaltending match-up was between Filip Gustavsson for the Wild and Charlie Lindgren for the Capitals. The game started out with the Wild on the board first. The Capitals responded, and the Wild answered back to take the 4-2 win. This moved the Wild’s record to 41-27-5 and the Capitals’ to 47-16-9.
Game Recap
The Wild got on the board first to open the game as Jon Merrill scored his second goal of the season on a strong shot from the point. The lone assist went to Devin Shore, and they took a 1-0 lead. The Capitals responded just over a minute later on a goal by Matt Roy to tie the game. Taylor Raddysh and Lars Eller assisted him. Former Wild player Brandon Duhaime scored to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead just a couple of minutes later, and Nic Dowd and Anthony Beauvillier assisted him. Those were the only goals in the first, and the Capitals took the lead into the second.
The momentum switched to the Wild partway through the second, as they added two goals to tie the game and then took the lead. The first goal was on the power play, scored by Frédérick Gaudreau off a shot by Matt Boldy. Boldy was credited with an assist, and Marcus Johansson was given the other.
Matt Boldy scored the second goal by snatching the puck and shooting it over Lindgren’s shoulder. Marco Rossi and Vinnie Hinostroza assisted. Those two goals were the only ones of the second period, and the Wild took the 3-2 lead into the third.
There were some close calls, especially for Ovechkin, but the only goal in the third was a late empty-netter scored by Gaudreau for his second of the night. Jared Spurgeon assisted him, and that goal sealed the 4-2 win.
The Wild will finish up this three-game homestand on Saturday evening, March 29, when they host the New Jersey Devils. The Capitals will return home to host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, March 30.
