Evgeny Kuznetsov scores twice to help Capitals end troublesome month with win over Senators

The Washington Capitals’ up-and-down month of February is finally over, and they wrapped it up with a win at home.

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice, Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves and the penalty kill went 6-for-7 as the Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.

Matt Niskanen added two assists for the Capitals.

Washington (36-21-7) finished off the Senators, owners of the third-worst record in hockey, to put an end to a month that sometimes gave them fits. The Capitals went 6-6-2 in February and only won consecutive games once.

Although they recaptured the Metropolitan Division lead Wednesday with 79 points, they are tussling with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for first place as a result of some bad outings.

“This has been a tough stretch here the last little while, just the travel and the number of games and all that, and the quality of teams,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “This was a big game. This was a big game, because you’re playing a team that has some firepower.”

The game’s opening minutes were not thrilling apart from a Tom Wilson-Mark Borowiecki fight, and both sides teased one another with mostly non-threatening shots. Ottawa had a power play chance as Mike Hoffman set up Matt Duchene on a pass at the crease, but Grubauer saved it.

The Capitals killed that penalty 15 minutes into the period and turned the momentum their way immediately. Matt Niskanen returned from the penalty box, where he was sent for interference, and fed the puck up to T.J. Oshie, who found Kuznetsov on a fast break toward goalie Mike Condon’s left side for a bang-bang goal.

Ottawa couldn’t get on the board in the first despite a team-high three shots on goal from their leading scorer, Mark Stone.

The Capitals doubled their lead in the opening minute of the second period. Nicklas Backstrom fed Tom Wilson in the slot, and the veteran forward sent it home for his 11th goal of the year and first point in six games.

Ottawa got back at them at the tail end of a 5-on-3 opportunity. After Michal Kempny and Brooks Orpik headed to the box 30 seconds apart, Washington looked much more urgent to kill than the Senators did to score. But Erik Karlsson — rumored to be a Washington trade target at Monday’s deadline — fed Mike Hoffman, who rifled it in just as Washington got Kempny back on the ice.

The Senators threatened again a few minutes later, but defenseman Jakub Jerabek, making his Washington debut and playing in his first game since Feb. 1, scooped the puck out of the crease and down the ice. Jerabek finished with 13 shifts for 12:35 and an even plus-minus.

Kuznetsov scored No. 2 with 11 seconds left in the period on a wraparound goal, sneaking the puck just inside the left corner of the pipe. The Capitals only took five shots in the period, but scored in its first and last minute.

Early in the third, Karlsson scored a goal for his second point of the night, and 500th point of his NHL career. Skating in on Grubauer’s left, the defenseman slung a shot between the back of his head and the far post of the cage to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Capitals missed several shots over the next five minutes, as Alex Ovechkin, Jakub Vrana, Kuznetsov, Niskanen and Wilson all missed wide or were stopped. But soon, defense became more important as Washington was forced to kill consecutive two-minute penalties committed by Niskanen and Orpik.

“We took some penalties, warranted or not. We had to battle through it,” Trotz said. “The guys battled through it and we weren’t crying about it, we were just sort of trying to deal with it. I liked that response.”

Ottawa outshot Washington 30-22, but couldn’t find the net for the game-tying goal as the third period wound down, even with three or four last-minute attempts.

Grubauer was pressed into action Monday after Braden Holtby allowed four goals in the Capitals’ first period against Columbus, so the backup played five periods in little more than 24 hours.

“It makes it much harder in the last period mentally,” Grubauer said. “It’s like back in the days in (AHL) Hershey, we played Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Gotta find a way to bear down and stop the puck and make the save. The guys did an unbelievable job in the last period blocking shots and making sure not much gets going.”

With the win, the Capitals swept the Senators in their season series 3-0.

The Capitals will have three days off before hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis for the final installment of the 2018 NHL Stadium Series.