WASHINGTON _ One streak had to end.
And the extinguisher was aimed at the Wild.
In their return home after dropping two straight on the road, the Capitals outlasted the Wild, 3-1, on Saturday at Capital One Arena to snap the Wild's season-high, four-game win streak.
Although Washington's two-game drought looked modest on paper, getting outscored 12-5 by the Predators and Avalanche seemed to stoke urgency during an already ho-hum start for the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners.
And while they weren't consistently overpowering the Wild, the Capitals did enough to hold on for a key victory with an important insurance tally coming with 2 minutes, 37 seconds to go _ a power-play goal from center Evgeny Kuznetsov with defenseman Ryan Suter in the penalty box for a four-minute high-sticking penalty.
The Capitals opened the scoring 9:42 into the first period on the power play after T.J. Oshie finished off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence in front with a rising one-timer by Wild backup Alex Stalock, who earned a rare start with No.1 Devan Dubnyk banking rest after playing eight in a row.
But the Wild responded at 12:02 with their own power-play tally. Captain Mikko Koivu's shot from the half-wall was kept alive by winger Mikael Granlund, which allowed linemate Nino Niederreiter to slide the loose puck by Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.
Only 44 seconds later, though, Washington retook the lead on a blast from the right point from defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
The Wild ramped up the pressure in the second, especially once the Capitals lost captain Alex Ovechkin after Ovechkin took a Chris Stewart pass to the face _ an injury that left a pool of blood on the ice once Ovechkin left for repairs. He did return for the start of the third.
A short-handed Washington lineup for the rest of the second, however, was still able to hold off the Wild, and Holtby led the charge. He was especially clutch late in the period, stopping a flurry of shots that included getting a glove on a one-timer from defenseman Kyle Quincey.
Stalock was also steady; he turned aside Ovechkin early in the third not long after Ovechkin rang a shot off the crossbar. Later in the period, Stalock made another pad save on a penalty shot after winger Chandler Stephenson was hauled down by defenseman Mike Reilly. He finished with 40 saves, while Holtby had 30.
That late goal by Kuznetsov capped off a 2-for-5 night for the Capitals' power play, highlighting the special-teams battle. The Wild were unable to cash in on three ensuing chances after Niederreiter's early score _ a missed opportunity that might have flipped the script.
