Capitals 4, Canucks 3: Defenseman Mike Green scored the game winner with 9:41 remaining and Evgeny Kuznetsov collected three assists for his first NHL points as host Washington earned a wild victory over Vancouver.

Green took Nicklas Backstrom's pass in the high slot and whipped a high wrist shot that beat Canucks netminder Eddie Lack, helping the Capitals shake off a two-goal Vancouver comeback for just their second win in the last seven games. Captain Alex Ovechkin scored his league-best 45th goal, Joel Ward and Tom Wilson also tallied and Jaroslav Halak had a sensational 38-save effort to preserve the win.

Nicklas Jensen scored his first career NHL goal, Shawn Matthias added his first in a Vancouver uniform and Jordan Schroeder also scored as the Canucks dropped to 3-12-1 in their last 16 games. Eddie Lack turned aside 17 shots in defeat.

Ward opened the scoring at 8:17, sweeping a loose puck into a wide-open net after Lack wound up out of position trying to stop Eric Fehr's initial shot. Schroeder drew the Canucks even just under 3 1/2 minutes later, gathering Zack Kassian's backhand pass while streaking through the slot and firing a wrist shot past Halak on the glove side.

Ovechkin put the Capitals ahead for good 8:28 into the middle frame, one-timing Kuznetsov's feed from the top of the right circle past Lack. Wilson added to the lead at 12:35 of the frame - taking Kuznetsov's slap pass on his forehand and firing a shot past Halak's outstretched glove. Matthias' 10th of the season made it a 3-2 game at 4:28 of the third and Jensen silenced the home crowd just over three minutes later.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Kuznetsov finished with a plus-2 rating and added two shots in just 9:58 of ice time. ... Ovechkin's goal halted a four-game drought. ... The Canucks had a chance to tie on a late power play, but LW Alex Burrows - who scored his first two goals of the season Wednesday in a win over Winnipeg - hit the post.