Rakell passed from the left point to Henrique, who had curled into the high slot, and he beat Holtby over his glove with a one-timer for his 20th goal at 1:24.
"Because of the time change and all of that, sometimes you are a little off," coach Barry Trotz said of Washington's start to a three-game California road trip. "First shift, we actually were OK. Then, we took a penalty and they ended up scoring."
Hampus Lindholm made it 2-0 when he shot through traffic from the left point for his 10th goal at 13:15 of the first. Silfverberg and Ryan Kesler screened Holtby, and the puck appeared to hit Washington defenseman Michal Kempny on the way to the net.
Anaheim killed two power plays in the first period. T.J. Oshie hit the post on a deflected shot on the second, and Gibson followed with difficult saves on Oshie and Brett Connolly.
"We had a few second whacks close to the crease that would have been nice to cash in on," Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "That would have changed the game, maybe."