Photo: Jonathan Kozub/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 3-0 at Bell MTS Place on Thursday night to split the home-and-home series. The loss kept the Capitals four points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for first place in the Metropolitan Division, though the Penguins now have two games in hand. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves in the loss, his second start in eight games and fourth straight setback.

Capitals’ Lines at Jets

Capitals lines vs Jets:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Kovalchuk
Panik-Dowd-Hathaway

Dillon-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Kempny-Gudas

Samsonov

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 28, 2020

The Capitals made no line changes from their 4-3 shootout win over the Jets on Tuesday other than in the crease.

First Period

Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov riffled one past Samsonov’s blocker after captain Blake Wheeler fed him up top to make it 1-0 Jets for the first time in 10 games 6:33 in.

Jets forward Patrik Laine would leave the game early after blocking a shot and would not return.

The Capitals won 65% of the draws in the opening 20 minutes.

The Jets led 9-7 in shots, 9-6 in hits, 5-3 in blocked shots, 2-1 in takeaways, had four giveaways while the Capitals had five, and didn’t convert on two power-plays.

Second Period

The Capitals led 13-11 in second-period shots, won 64% of the draws, failed to score on two power-plays, and had seven giveaways while the Jets had eight through 40 minutes.

The Jets led 5-1 in takeaways and went 0-for-3 on the power-play through two.

Each team was credited with 20 shots, 11 hits, and 10 blocked shots in the first two periods.

Third Period

Forward Kyle Connor ripped one past Samsonov’s blocker after center Mark Scheifele stripped the puck from defenseman Radko Gudas along the wall to double the Jets’ lead at 7:20.

Center Mark Scheifele backhanded one from the wall into an open net to make it 3-0 with 1:28 to go.

The Capitals led 33-32 in shots, including 13-12 in the third, 17-16 in hits, won 62% of the draws, and failed to score on three power-plays.

The Jets led 30-27 in shots, including 10-7 in the third, 17-13 in blocked shots, 7-2 in takeaways, and went 0-for-3 on the power-play.

Each team gave away the puck nine times.

The Capitals are next in action when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night. Action from Xcel Energy Center can be seen at 8 PM ET on NBCSN.

By Harrison Brown