capitals

Anthony Beauvillier scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Logan Thompson made 24 saves in the Washington Capitals’ fifth straight victory, 3-1 over the Kings on Tuesday night.

Tom Wilson scored his 16th goal and Alex Ovechkin had two assists for the Capitals, whose 8-1-0 surge since mid-November has moved them into a first-place tie atop the Metropolitan Division with Carolina, which has two games in hand.

Aliaksei Protas added an empty-net goal for Washington, which opened a California trip featuring three games in four nights by sweeping its season series with the Kings.

Adrian Kempe scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 22 shots for the Kings, who have lost five of seven. Los Angeles had earned points in five straight games before failing to mount much significant offense against Thompson and the Caps.

Wilson opened the scoring when he tapped in a puck sent into the crease by Ryan Leonard during a power play late in the first period. Wilson has six power-play goals this season, while the rest of the Washington roster has combined for seven goals on one of the NHL’s worst man-advantage units.

The Kings evened it when they burned the Capitals in transition early in the second period, with captain Anze Kopitar feeding Kempe for his ninth goal. The $85-million Swedish forward scored in his second straight game after getting just one goal in his previous 10 games.

Beauvillier created his own goal when he blocked a shot in the dying seconds of a Los Angeles power play. Ovechkin came out of the box and created an odd-man rush with the loose puck, and Connor McMichael fed Beauvillier for the tap-in on his sixth goal.

The Capitals all lined up after the game to shake hands with Kopitar, who is retiring after this season.