Maybe the Minnesota Wild should go back on the road.More Wild coveragePhotos of the Week: 12/30/18 – 1/5/19Wild Breakaway: Wild start slow Andrew Ladd Jersey , finish fast in beating OttawaSpurgeon scores twice, Wild beat Senators 4-3WATCH: Wild’s Spurgeon scores pair of goals vs. OttawaSt. Cloud State’s Ryan Poehling shines at World Junior ChampionshipActually, they aren’t likely to volunteer for extra games away from the Xcel Energy Center, but their 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night was nothing like the 5-2-0 road trip they completed to get within three points of first-place Nashville in the Central Division.Article continues below ...When Minnesota returns to action Thursday night with a visit from the Vancouver Canucks, it hopes that the mistakes and missed chances of the previous game are replaced by the attention to detail and timely scoring that helped it do so well during its 15-day sojourn.“It just felt like some of the mistakes we made were none that we’ve been making over the last while,” forward Eric Staal said. “Against a good team, if Duby’s not standing on his head, which he still made some pretty good saves, it’s going to cost you. Tonight, it did.”Duby is goalie Devan Dubnyk, who’s on track for one of the best seasons of his career with an 8-4-2 record, a 2.34 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. But he couldn’t do much to prevent Washington from jumping on a 3-0 second-period lead that held up, even as the Wild (11-5-2) got six power play chances against an opponent ranking 29th in the league while short-handed.Minnesota’s one real chance to get back into the game came after Mikko Koivu got the Wild on the board with an unassisted goal midway through the second period. It carried play to the Capitals for the remainder of the period but couldn’t shift momentum with a second goal.“We build that momentum and you can’t let it die down Anthony Beauvillier Jersey ,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “You just have to do whatever you can, if you’re not putting them in the back of the net, to just get those opportunities and keep working. I guess we got away from it.”The Wild will attempt to get back to it against Vancouver (10-8-2), which got off to a surprisingly fast start but has shown signs of late that it might be regressing to the mean.The Canucks are at the end of a six-game road trip on which they have gone 1-2-2 with three straight losses, including a 5-2 decision Tuesday night against the New York Islanders.“It’s been a grind a little bit, but it’s not an excuse,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. “In the NHL nowadays, you’ve got to be able to win on the road. We get home in a few days. We’ve got one more game and we’re going to finish this trip off with a win.”Vancouver gave up a weird own goal that snapped a 1-1 first-period tie when Josh Bailey’s pass hit off the skate of Chris Tanev, then allowed a backbreaking fourth goal in the third period as Tom Kuhnhackl booted home a centering pass. It was allowed to stand, even though it appeared to be a kicking motion.The teams met Oct. 29 in British Columbia, with Vancouver dumping Minnesota 5-2 behind two goals from electrifying rookie Elias Pettersson. He has 10 goals and seven assists in 14 games, but hasn’t scored during his team’s losing streak. NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Connolly was calling for the puck as he skated up the left side. He quickly put the Washington Capitals ahead when he got a cross-ice pass from John Carlson and helped the Capitals keep their winning streak going.Connolly scored the tiebreaking goal on a one-timer from the left circle with 6:24 left in the third period, and the Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3 Saturday for their season-high fifth straight win.“A little bit of open ice Authentic Brock Nelson Jersey ,” Connolly said of his fourth goal of the season. “(Carlson) saw me over there, I was calling for it. … I got a good piece of it and it went right where I wanted it.”Alex Ovechkin, Nic Dowd, Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson also scored for defending Stanley Cup champion Washington, and Carlson had three assists. Pheonix Copley, starting in place of Braden Holtby, stopped 27 shots.“Good team win, we’re playing really well as of late,” Connolly said. “We’re starting to get that feeling again through our room … like we had toward the end of last year.”The Capitals, who have rallied after giving up the first goal in four of their wins during their streak, trailed 1-0 after one period and by two midway through the second before scoring three straight to take the lead heading to the third.“We’re always believing we’re in games,” Connolly said. “We’re finding ways to win.”Ryan Strome had tied the score 3-3 on a wraparound at 5:30 of the final period — his first goal with the Rangers since being acquired from Edmonton on Nov. 16.Connolly, who also had an assist Cal Clutterbuck Jersey , then gave Washington the lead back, and Wilson added an empty-netter with 1:08 left for his fourth. He has nine points in seven games since returning from a season-opening suspension that sidelined him for 16 games.Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei and Ryan Strome scored for the Rangers, who lost their second straight, ending a seven-game winning streak on home ice. Kevin Hayes had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 23 saves.Trailing 1-0, the Capitals came out with increased intensity in the second period and scored three goals while outshooting the Rangers 15-9.“You can’t take a period off against anyone, let alone the defending Stanley Cup champions,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “If you’re going to have a chance to beat them, you’re going to have to stay on them for 60 minutes. You can have lapses where you don’t play well, but they can’t be 20-minute lapses.”Just 31 seconds after Skjei doubled the Rangers’ lead, Dowd tipped Carlson’s shot for his second to pull the Capitals back within one midway through the second.Vrana then tied it with his sixth as he beat Georgiev with a backhander with 3:33 left.Ovechkin put the Capitals ahead, tipping Carlson’s pass from the right side with 30 seconds left. It was Ovechkin’s 17th goal, tying him for the league lead with Boston’s David Pastrnak and Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner.“(Dowd’s) goal is huge Eric Tangradi Jersey Womens ,” Wilson said. “We know when we’re not playing the way we want to. We know when it has to turn around. … They’ve been playing some good hockey at home, so it was big for us to be able to do that.”Near the midpoint of the second, Skjei scored on a rebound of Brendan Smith’s shot that came off the end boards and right to him on the outside edge of the left circle at 9:39 to make it 2-0 on the Rangers’ first shot on goal of the period.Vesey gave New York a 1-0 lead less than 15 seconds after coming out of the penalty box near the midpoint of the first. Hayes brought the puck up the left side on a 2-on-1 rush, cut toward the net and dropped the puck back to Jesper Fast, who tapped it to the right, and a trailing Vesey put it under a sprawled Copley’s left pad for his eighth at 9:12.NOTES: Ovechkin’s goal was his 624th, pulling one behind Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for 15th place on the NHL’s career list. Ovechkin now has 33 goals and 51 points in 54 career games against the Rangers. … The Capitals have outscored opponents 35-23 in the second period. … Capitals also won the first meeting 4-3 in OT at home on Oct. 17. The teams play two more times, Feb. 24 at Washington, and March 3 back at Madison Square Garden. … LW Timothy Gettinger made his NHL debut one day after being called up from Hartford of the AHL. He was sent back down after the game. … Strome now has four goals and 14 points in 19 games against the Capitals.UP NEXTCapitals: At the New York Islanders on Monday night.Rangers: Host Ottawa on Monday night to cap a stretch of five of six at home.