Wolves rout Nuggets

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kevin Love won’t let the Minnesota Timberwolves go down without a fight.

The Denver Nuggets could use a little of the same punch right now.

Love followed up his 51-point game with 30 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves to a 117-100 victory over the Nuggets on Sunday.

“I think we used to call him kind of a poor man’s Larry Bird,” Denver coach George Karl said. “I think you can take ‘poor man’s’ off that comparison now. His ability to rebound is incredible and his offensive tools and skills are growing.”

Luke Ridnour had 25 points and six assists, and Wayne Ellington added 17 points for the Timberwolves, who are trying to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff race.

The Wolves entered the game 3 1/2 games behind Denver for the eighth spot.

“You see all these teams ahead of us,” coach Rick Adelman said. “Teams get a nice margin when they go out and win three or four in a row. That’s what we have to do.”

Capitals 3, Wild 0

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin continued his recent resurgence with his ninth goal in seven games, and the Washington Capitals pulled back into the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

Jason Chimera and Mathieu Perrault also scored, and Braden Holtby made 28 saves in his fourth start of the season as the Capitals broke a two-game skid to move back into a tie on points with the Buffalo Sabres, with Washington holding the tiebreaker.

The Capitals and Sabres, both with just six games remaining in the regular season, meet in Washington on Tuesday night.

Looking again like the player who twice won league MVP, Ovechkin was influential throughout the game, highlighted from his blast from the left circle in the third period.

for Washington’s third goal. He led the Capitals in ice time and had a superb shift during a second-period power play, hustling back to his own end to break up a short-handed odd-man rush and then supplying the secondary assist on Perrault’s goal that made it 2-0.

Ovechkin has 36 goals on the season, having recently pass his career-low from last season, but he’s still on pace for a career-low in points. He has 61, well below last season’s mark of 85.

Recent call-up Holtby, sharing time with Michal Neuvirth while Tomas Vokoun recovers from a groin injury, started for the third time in four games and shut down the NHL’s lowest- scoring team for his third career shutout. His point-blank save on Devin Setoguchi in the first period helped set the tone for the Capitals, who needed to re-establish momentum after blowing a 3-0 lead in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.

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