Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - The Washington Capitals try to halt a four- game winless streak tonight when they welcome the Minnesota Wild to the MCI Center.
Washington, 0-3-1 during the skid, has lost its last two games, including Tuesday's 3-2 defeat at the hands of San Jose. The Caps spent much of the evening getting frustrated by Sharks' goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who turned aside 46 of their shots. Nabokov came up especially large in the third period when he made 18 saves.
Michael Nylander and Mike Grier scored for Washington, which was shut out 1-0 by Minnesota last Saturday. In that match the Capitals were stymied by the Wild's Dwayne Roloson, who needed to make just 17 saves for the blanking.
Against San Jose, Washington went 1-for-9 on the power play. Bruce Cassidy's troops are 4-for-30 with the man-advantage in their last six games.
Washington, 4-3-0 on home ice, opened a three-game MCI Center set on Tuesday. The stand will conclude Saturday versus Atlanta.
Minnesota, meanwhile, is unbeaten in its last three (1-0-2) on the heels of a two-game losing streak. After Saturday's victory over the Caps, the Wild skated to a 2-2 tie with Los Angeles in the last installment of a four-game homestand on Tuesday.
Sergei Zholtok helped salvaged the point when he scored the equalizer 5:48 into the third period. Marian Gaborik also tallied, while Roloson made 33 saves in his second consecutive start.
Gaborik's score was his 12th of the season, which has him in a log-jam atop the NHL leaderboard. The youngster is tied for the league lead with Colorado's Joe Sakic, Vancouver's Markus Naslund, Detroit's Sergei Fedorov and Columbus' Geoff Sanderson.
The Wild are still hanging in there near the top of the NHL totem pole, as their 26 points tie them with Boston for the second-best mark in the league. Only the Dallas Stars, with 29 points, are better.
Minnesota, 4-2-2 away from home, will make a quick road stop before returning to St. Paul for Saturday's matchup with Nashville.
The Wild and Capitals have played four games during their short series history -- two in Minnesota and two in DC -- and the home team has won each time.
