Tom Wilson collected a goal and two assists to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
Anthony Beauvillier started the scoring just 23 seconds into the opening frame with a backhand goal, his first of the season. Pittsburgh answered at 1:19 when Bryan Rust snapped in his first goal of the year, assisted by Ben Kindel and Samuel Girard. Wilson restored Washington's lead at 11:51 of the first period on a feed from Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Washington expanded the margin in the second period. Dubois scored his first goal of the season at 4:42 off a pass from Wilson, and Alex Tuch netted his third goal of the year at 13:14 to make it 4-1. Tommy Novak responded unassisted at 14:05 with a snap shot for Pittsburgh, and Nick Robertson tipped in a shot at 18:01 to pull the Penguins within one. Ryan Leonard pushed Washington's lead back to two at 3:55 of the third period with a power-play snap shot.
Logan Thompson earned the win for Washington, stopping 27 of 30 shots. Arturs Silovs took the loss for Pittsburgh after turning aside 22 of 27 shots. Washington converted 1 of 4 opportunities on the power play, while Pittsburgh failed to score on three chances with the man advantage.
The victory moved the Capitals to 2-1-0 on the season. Pittsburgh dropped to 2-2-0 and is winless in two consecutive games.
The Capitals host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, October 20. Pittsburgh visits the Utah Mammoth on Monday, October 19.
