The Washington Capitals defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Sunday night thanks to two goals from Aliaksei Protas.
The Capitals regained their top spot in the Eastern Conference rankings with the victory, which also featured goals from Jakub Vrana and two assists from Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Logan Thompson improved to 13-2-2 with 25 saves.
The Kings, who have lost three of their previous four games and a back-to-back set for the first time this season, were led by Kevin Fiala.
With 18 saves in the defeat, David Rittich’s season record fell to 10-8.
Takeaways
Kings: The Kings were 0 for 10 on their long road trip and had the fifth-worst power play in the league going into Sunday. After a six-game scoring drought during power plays, Fiala eventually helped them break through.
Capitals: Protas has stepped up to fill the offensive hole as Alex Ovechkin recovers from a fractured leg. He equaled the career high of 29 points he set last season in 45 fewer games with another multigoal performance.
Key moment
Vrana sniped home his sixth goal of the season to give the Capitals the lead again after Washington replied with a goal of their own on the man advantage after giving up a power-play goal early in the second.
Key stat
Dubois extended his point run to three games, further solidifying his place in D.C. He leads Washington in scoring through December and has scored in seven of his last eight games.
Up next
The Kings return from almost a week off to visit Edmonton on Saturday, while the Capitals play their last game before the Christmas break on Monday night at Boston.
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