A late turnover in the Washington Capitals’ defensive zone led to the go-ahead goal by Jason Pominville, who scored twice as the Minnesota Wild won, 2-1, at Verizon Center.
“It’s sort of just like trench warfare — you’ve got to take it inch-by-inch, and when you make a mistake, they’re going to capitalize on it,” coach Barry Trotz said. “That’s how they are.”
Defenseman Mike Green was trying to get the puck out of his own zone when he was checked by left wing Zach Parise. Green maintained control of the puck and drifted toward the blue line, but his pass to the center line never reached Capitals left wing Jason Chimera.
Pominville, who scored the go-ahead goal 9:19 into the period, then skated toward the net. With Parise looping in across the middle, the two caught defenseman Tim Gleason alone in front of Holtby, and Pominville let go of a slapshot from 40 feet that caught the goaltender on his left shoulder before fluttering into the far top corner of the net.
“He released it where he shot it,” said Holtby, who had 28 saves. “I didn’t think it was going in. Caught my sleeve. I don’t know if that pulled it back or whatnot — I haven’t seen the replay, so he put in a pretty good spot, and I’ve got to find a way to save that.”
The Capitals allowed 19 shots over the first two periods, but Minnesota managed eight shots on goal before Pominville broke through with his 14th goal of the season. The Wild took two more shots on goal before Pominville scored again.
Washington entered the game having won 30 of the 35 games in which it led after the first period.
“That’s just puck management,” Trotz said. “We had it, and they’re changing. You probably try to keep it away from that side of the ice and we turned it over. Pominville and those guys, they sniped a goal. They don’t need too many looks. They’ve got some exceptional young talent over there.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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