WASHINGTON — A truism in the NHL for the past 20 years or so held true on the Washington Capitals’ home rink again Friday night:

You can contain Alex Ovechkin but only for so long. The greatest goal scorer in the history of this league will eventually find a way.

Held without a goal in the season’s first four games, Ovechkin moved one step closer to becoming the NHL’s first 900-goal scorer during the Minnesota Wild’s only regular-season visit to the District of Columbia. Ovechkin set up a first-period goal, and scored No. 898 of his career in the third period of Washington’s 5-1 win.

Marcus Johansson got a second-period goal for the Wild on a night where offense, and even shots on goal, were in short supply. Filip Gustavsson had 40 saves as Minnesota fell to 2-3-0 on the season and 0-2 in the first 40% of their current five-game road trip.

Trailing by a goal and making a push to tie early in the third, the Wild were instead victimized by the quick release of Ovechkin that has been fooling goalies since he was a rookie in 2005. Dylan Strome, who had scored in the opening period off a setup from Ovechkin, won a faceoff to the left of Gustavsson, and Ovechkin’s shot hit the back of the net before the goalie could react, putting Washington up by a pair of goals.

The goal and assist gave Ovechkin 40 points in 26 career games versus Minnesota. Strome added a second goal late in the third and Tom Wilson added a garbage time, power-play goal as the Capitals pulled away.

Defensively sound for the first 15 minutes, the Wild inexplicably got loose late in the first, and ended up in a deficit when Strome capped off a 2-on-1 rush with a tap-in after a cross-ice pass from Ovechkin. Minnesota’s NHL-best power play had the only man-advantage chance in the opening 20 minutes, only to see the Capitals do an exemplary job of getting in the way of the Wild’s shot attempts, and limiting the visitors to just one shot during the two minutes.

The penalty killers got a notable workload early in the middle frame when Jake Middleton was whistled for a four-minute high sticking penalty. Washington controlled the play and tested Gustavsson, but the Wild penalty killers were able to ice the puck at key moments and emerged unscathed.

But, in a refrain that is becoming standard early this season, the special teams success did not lead to five-on-five momentum. The Wild went more than 17 minutes without a shot on goal, testing Capitals goalie Logan Thompson just four times in the game’s first 36 minutes.

Minnesota finally solved Thompson — and scored five-on-five for the first time since the season opener — when Johansson plucked the puck out of the air with his glove, set it down, and ripped a rising shot through a crowd in front of the Washington net.

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It was the first goal of the season from Johansson, who started the game at left wing on the Wild’s second line, with Joel Eriksson Ek at center and Vladimir Tarasenko on the other wing.

But the home crowd wasn’t quiet for long, as Washington took the lead back on the next shift, just 31 seconds later. Wild defender Jonas Brodin sprawled out to take away the cross-ice pass in front of Gustavsson. Instead, the puck fired by Aliaksei Protas deflected off Brodin’s leg, and off the inside of Gustavsson’s left skate, ending up in the net.

Thompson finished with 14 saves for Washington, which improved to 4-1-0 this season. The Capitals make their lone visit to Minnesota this season on Dec. 16.

The Wild’s road trip continues with a 6 p.m. CT game in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

A former Minnesota Teacher of the Year was sentenced to 14 years in prison Friday for repeatedly sexually assaulting his eighth-grade student at a Minneapolis charter school nearly a decade ago.

The victim came forward with the allegations against Harvest Best Academy teacher Abdul Jameel Wright in May 2024 when she was 21 years old. She said the assaults began in 2017, when she was 14, and occurred for nearly a year in school classrooms, his car and elsewhere in Hennepin County.

Wright, 39, of Brooklyn Park, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with first-degree criminal sexual conduct by a person in a position of authority. He opted for a court trial, and Judge Sarah West found him guilty of the charge in September.

State sentencing guidelines called for a presumptive sentence of 12 years in prison. The prosecution asked for a 14-year, three-month sentence, which West handed down.

After incarceration, Wright will be required to register as a predatory offender and be on conditional release for 10 years.

Abdul Jameel Wright (Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)

“Mr. Wright abused his authority and engaged in grossly inappropriate behavior,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement following his sentence. “My thoughts are with the victim in this case, who exhibited incredible courage in providing her testimony to help secure a conviction.”

Wright was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in September 2016, becoming the first charter school teacher to receive the honor. He joined the North Minneapolis school in 2012, with a bachelor’s degree from Concordia University in St. Paul.

According to court documents:

The woman reported that Wright, her former English teacher, began “grooming” her by singling her out. She described eating lunch with Wright in his classroom and him playing music for her.

Wright eventually started calling the girl every day and developed a relationship with her mother. He would pick the girl up for school and drop her off at home after she stayed after school to babysit his children.

The sexual contact began in January 2017 with Wright kissing and fondling her during a ride home, she reported, adding that after that he would do “a little more.” She said he put cushions on the floor of a classroom before the assaults, one of which happened while his children were in the next room watching a movie.

She reported the assaults ended around the time she entered ninth grade.

The woman testified during Wright’s court trial that she was in college when she began to fully understand what Wright had done to her, according to Judge West’s Sept. 19 written verdict.

“As she learned about grooming in a psychology course,” the document read, “as she reflected on how it felt to be alone processing it, and as she experienced the stress from the experiences with Mr. Wright, she realized she needed to release it.”

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By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is giving domestic automakers additional relief from tariffs on auto parts, extending what was supposed to have been a short-term rebate until 2030.

It’s part of a proclamation Trump signed Friday that also made official a 25% import tax on medium and heavy duty trucks, starting Nov. 1.

The action reflected the administration’s efforts to use tariffs to promote American manufacturing while also trying to shield the auto sector from the higher costs that Trump’s import taxes have created for parts and raw materials.

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The special rebate initially announced in April had been set to be lowered and then expire in 2027. At the time, Trump described it as short-term aid “during this little transition” with the expectation that automakers would move production lines back to the U.S.

The extension and adjustments came after conversations with the auto industry, senior administration officials said. The goal is to both expand domestic production and make it more competitive. The officials insisted on anonymity as a condition for talking to reporters ahead of Trump signing the proclamation.

The amended action provides a rebate of 3.75% relative to the sales price of a domestically assembled vehicle. That figure was reached by putting the 25% import tax on parts that make up 15% of a vehicle’s sales price. Multiplying those two percentages together is equal to 3.75%.

The rebate will also now be offered to manufacturers of trucks and engines, officials said.

Trump had posted on his social media site Oct. 6 about the new tariffs on imported trucks. Buses will also be tariffed at 10% as part of the action.

The new tariffs do not apply to imports covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade. That pact, which went into effect in 2020, is up for renegotiation next year.

The moves come at a delicate moment for the auto industry as consumers are enduring sticker shock. According to Kelley Blue Book, buyers of new autos spent an average of $50,080 in September, the highest average on record. New auto prices have increased 3.6% from a year ago.

Murders and assaults in Minnesota dropped in 2024 while rapes and robberies rose, according to statistics released this week by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

The 2024 Uniform Crime Report showed that violent crime in the seven-county Metro area — Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties — increased by 1% overall compared to 2023. In greater Minnesota, violent crime numbers decreased by 3%.

The number of murders continued to fall after a spike during the pandemic. There were 170 murders in 2024 compared with 181 in 2023, 182 in 2022 and 201 in 2021. Firearms were involved in 74.7% of the incidents, up from 69.6% in 2023.

The St. Paul Police Department handled 26 homicide incidents in 2024, the same as in 2023. So far this year St. Paul police have handled nine homicides.

The number of reported assaults dropped from 9,986 in 2023 to 9,826 in 2024.

Carjacking incidents, which included attempted carjackings, increased 5.5 percent with 426 incidents in 2024, compared with 401 in 2023. There were 31 reported carjackings in St. Paul for 2024; Minneapolis saw 329 cases in 2024.

Reported rapes and robberies reversed their post-pandemic downward trends: Rapes rose from 2,053 in 2023 to 2,159 last year while robberies rose from 2,791 in 2023 to 2,836 in 2024. Rapes had been decreasing from their 2021 spike of 2,472. Robbery reports reached 3,991 in 2021.

Other details:

• Most of the rapes — 73.2% — occurred in a home. Minors accounted for 39.6% of the victims.

• Motor vehicle theft decreased 19.3% in 2024 with 12,596 vehicles stolen as compared to 15,612 in 2023 (carjacking incidents are counted separately from motor vehicle thefts).

• There were 70,898 incidents of larceny in 2024, the lowest number in 56 years, according to the BCA.

• Bias crimes rose in 2024 with 225 incidents reported.

• Peace officers were assaulted in 976 incidents in 2024, a 1.5% increase from 2023.

• Law enforcement use-of-force incidents involving discharge of a firearm rose in 2024 to 27, 10 more than in 2023.

• There were 32 overall use-of-force incidents, 11 more than the previous year. In those incidents, 12 people died and 15 resulted in a serious injury. Agencies reported using force on 18 white individuals, 13 Black and 1 Asian.

The full 2024 Uniform Crime Report can be found at dps.mn.gov/mn-crime-statistics, along with reports from previous years.

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