Wild hand Capitals a lopsided loss at Capital One Arena

The Minnesota Wild came into Capital One Arena on Wednesday and made it look easy. Five goals. One allowed. The Capitals dropped to 8-5-0 on the season, and Minnesota left town at 10-3-3 with 23 points, the better team by a wide margin on this night.

It went sideways fast. Quinn Hughes opened the scoring for Minnesota in the first period with a snap shot, assisted by Jonas Brodin and Nico Sturm. Then Michael McCarron added another before the period was out, finishing off a sequence that involved Blake Coleman and Bobby Brink. Washington was already down two before the second period even started.

Justin Sourdif gave the Capitals fans something to cheer about in the second. His tip-in goal, set up by Cole Hutson and Anthony Beauvillier, cut the deficit to 2-1 and was the lone bright spot of the night for Washington. That was it for the Capitals on the scoresheet.

The third period was all Minnesota. Maxim Shabanov scored on a snap shot with Joel Eriksson Ek picking up the assist. Then Kirill Kaprizov, already one of the league's most dangerous forwards this season, ripped home his 15th goal of the year off feeds from Matt Boldy and Eriksson Ek again. Danila Yurov closed it out with a slap shot, assisted by David Spacek and Brink for his second point of the game.

Eriksson Ek finished with two assists, the most productive night of any individual skater on either side. Kaprizov's 15th is a number that stands out in a league where most goal scorers are still in single digits this early in the year.

For Washington, Sourdif's tip-in was the only goal and Hutson's single assist was the only helper. A short list by any measure.

The Capitals are now four games below Minnesota in the standings, and the gap felt every bit that wide on Wednesday night. Yurov's slap shot with the game already decided was the final thing that happened.