St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Niklas Backstrom stopped 21-of-22 shots to lead Minnesota past Washington, 2-1, at Xcel Energy Center.
Chuck Kobasew and Mikko Koivu lit the lamp for the Wild, who put the brakes on a two-game skid and kept Washington winless in six tries at Minnesota since 2000.
Alex Ovechkin notched a late score for the Capitals, who avoided being shut out for the first time in 61 regular-season games.
Michal Neuvirth allowed two goals on 17 shots in defeat, one game after posting his first career shutout at Carolina on Wednesday.
Seconds after pulling Neuvirth for an extra attacker, Oveckhin snapped his five-game goal drought by slipping a wrister through traffic from between the circles. It pulled the Caps within 2-1 with 1:36 to play.
Washington once again went with an extra attacker inside the final minute, and heavy pressure in the Wild zone didn't end until Minnesota's netminder made a glove stop on Caps' forward Backstrom with 5.8 seconds left.
Ovechkin's last-chance shot from a faceoff was deflected away as the final seconds ticked off.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead at 7:48 of the first period when Andrew Brunette whipped a cross-ice feed through the crease for Kobasew's successful one- timer.
Koivu converted a power-play chance with 16 seconds remaining in the second period for a two-goal edge.
Game Notes
Kobasew notched his first goal of the season, and scored for the first time since April 8, 2010 at Calgary...Koivu extended his point streak to five games and has recorded at least one point in all but one of Minnesota's nine contests this year...Washington was last held scoreless at Buffalo on December 9, 2009...Ovechkin's last goal came on October 13 against the New York Islanders.