Capitals 3, Wild 2: Captain Alex Ovechkin scored twice to increase his league-leading goal total to 47 as visiting Washington skated to its third straight victory.

Evgeny Kuznetsov also tallied for the Capitals, who have won six of their last nine and pulled even in points with Pittsburgh for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Defenseman Karl Alzner notched an assist for his career-high 19th point and Braden Holtby finished with 28 saves in his 15th straight start.

Defensemen Christian Folin and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota, which had its two-game winning streak halted. Mikael Granlund notched two assists and Devan Dubnyk turned aside 24 shots while starting his 29th consecutive contest with the Wild, whose lead over Winnipeg for the first wild card in the Western Conference was reduced to one point.

After being held off the scoresheet in back-to-back contests, Ovechkin made the most of the open ice as the teams were skating 4-on-4 by cleaning up his own rebound with 4:35 remaining in the second period. The Capitals doubled the advantage just 39 seconds later as Kuznetsov stripped Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin of the puck in front of the net and tucked it past Dubnyk.

Folin halved the deficit with nine seconds remaining in the session, but Washington answered 3:05 into the third as Nicklas Backstrom won an offensive-zone faceoff before Ovechkin's sharp wrist shot from the upper edge of the right faceoff circle beat Dubnyk. Spurgeon batted Thomas Vanek's rebound out of mid-air during a power play with 5:56 remaining to bring the Wild back within one, but Holtby held firm to seal the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanek notched an assist on Spurgeon's goal, extending his point streak to six games (four goals, three assists). ... Washington D Brooks Orpik returned to the lineup after a four-game absence due to a lower-body injury. ... The Capitals failed on all four power-play opportunities after entering the contest on a 9-for-17 run. ... Wild LW Sean Bergenheim played in his 500th career game.