NHL: Washington 4, St. Louis 2

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Viktor Kozlov scored twice and had an assist Thursday, carrying the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over St. Louis.

The Capitals won their fifth straight and improved the second-best home record in the NHL to 13-1-1. San Jose has the best home mark at 16

Tomas Fleischmann and Alexander Ovechkin also scored for Washington and rookie Simeon Varlamov, in his second start of the season, saved 29-of-31 shots.

St. Louis lost its fifth in a row. Ben Bishop suffered his first setback of the campaign while allowing four goals on 29 shots.

Kozlov opened the scoring with 3:46 left in the first period and then put the Capitals in front for good at 2:54 of the second by grabbing a rebound and putting it past Bishop.

Ovechkin's goal was his 20th of the season.