Ovechkin scores twice as Caps beat Wild

St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 46th and 47th goals of the season, and the Capitals posted their first-ever win against the Wild in Minnesota with a 3-2 decision on Thursday night.

Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington and Braden Holtby made 28 saves.

The Capitals, who were 0-6-1 in their seven prior trips to Xcel Energy Center, have won three straight to tie the Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Christian Folin and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota, which owns the Western Conference's first wild-card spot.

Devan Dubnyk gave up three goals on 27 shots in his 30th straight start.

The Wild have won a franchise-record eight straight road games, but Thursday's loss was the fourth in their last six home games.

Ovechkin gave Washington a 3-1 lead 3:05 into the third period with a one- timer following a faceoff win.

Spurgeon swatted down a rebound at the left post for a power-play goal with 5:56 remaining.

Minnesota pulled Dubnyk and sustained pressure in the Washington zone, but couldn't produce a tying goal.

In the second period, Washington scored twice in a 39-second span while the teams skated 4-on-4.

Ovechkin flew into the Minnesota zone and buried his own rebound with 4:35 remaining, then Kuznetsov beat Dubnyk after picking the pocket of Jonas Brodin.

Folin joined the rush and beat Holtby five-hole on a shot from the right circle with 8.2 seconds left.

Game Notes

Minnesota forward Sean Bergenheim played in his 500th career NHL game ... Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik played against Minnesota after missing four games with a lower-body injury, and forward Michael Latta was back in the Capitals lineup after sitting out six games with an upper-body injury.