Thompson makes 34 saves, Washington gets 6th win in past 7
Capitals at Blue Jackets | Recap
COLUMBUS — Alex Ovechkin scored his 899th NHL goal, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 at Nationwide Arena on Friday.
Ovechkin scored at 1:36 of the third period to make it 2-0. He can become the first player to reach 900 goals when the Capitals host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Ovechkin added an assist, and John Carlson and Connor McMichael each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (6-2-0), who have won six of their past seven. Logan Thompson made 34 saves and also had an assist.
“I think we just stole two points,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Logan was fantastic, especially to keep us in it in the first whatever it was, 40 minutes of the game.”
WSH@CBJ: Ovechkin scores the 899th goal of his career
Denton Mateychuk scored, and Jet Greaves made 25 saves for the Blue Jackets (3-4-0), who had won two in a row.
“We’ll take a ton of positivity out of this hockey game,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “The players know how hard they played. They know how well they played and they know they just need to keep doing that and that will get rewarded.”
Carlson made it 1-0 with a slap shot from the point at 18:19 of the second period. The puck deflected off the stick of Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski with Washington forward Tom Wilson jumping to avoid being struck but providing a screen on Greaves.
The goal came on the second of two shots the Capitals had in the period. The first was at 4:13.
“I mean it’s tough, especially [when] they got a goal late there in the second when we were really pushing,” Mateychuk said. “But that’s hockey. We have to be able to come out in the third and be a resilient group and go out there and get that next one.”
WSH@CBJ: Carlson breaks the ice late in the 2nd
The Blue Jackets led in shots 22-14 after two periods.
“They have a lot of skill,” Thompson said. “Like we saw earlier in preseason, they shoot a lot of pucks, so I think from a goalie standpoint, those are easy games to get up for knowing you’re going to see a lot of rubber.
“I know they had a decent amount of shots tonight, but I thought the guys in front of me did a good job of letting me see everything.”
Ovechkin extended the lead to 2-0 with a shot from just above the right circle after Dylan Strome won a face-off.
“It’s one of those plays that I think we might have had one last year, maybe two, but I think it was one,” Strome said. “Just one of those that sometimes you get lucky on and we’ll take it for now.”
Justin Sourdif then pushed it to 3-0 on a breakaway at 2:40 of the third with Thompson getting the secondary assist.
“We felt we put a lot of good minutes in in the first and second, but we weren’t able to get one by them,” Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said. “That’s up to us to stay with it. Stay patient. It’s going to come if we keep playing like that, but it got away from us there.
“We just gave them too many chances. A win off the draw and then a breakaway after that.”
Mateychuk cut it to 3-1 at 10:20, scoring in front off a pass from below the goal line by Sean Monahan. It was Mateychuk’s second goal in two games.
WSH@CBJ: Mateychuk puts the Blue Jackets on the board in 3rd
Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov had a goal overturned at 10:59 after a video review by the NHL Situation Room determined he kicked the puck into the net.
Wilson scored for a 4-1 lead at 15:39, and McMichael made it 5-1 at 16:37. Each goal came during a five-minute power play after Columbus forward Mathieu Olivier was assessed a major penalty for elbowing Washington defenseman Declan Chisholm at 12:35.
McMichael’s goal was initially waved off, but the call on the ice was overturned after a video review by the Situation Room determined he did not hit the puck with a high stick.
NOTES: With his 336th third-period goal, Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history. Ovechkin also has 28 goals in 51 games against the Blue Jackets, tying Patrick Sharp (51 games) and Patrick Kane (64 games) for the most goals by an opponent against Columbus. … The Capitals are 12-3-1 in their past 16 games against the Blue Jackets dating to the 2021-22 season and are 7-0-1 in their past eight at Nationwide Arena. … Wilson has nine points (four goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak. … Carlson has six points (two goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak. … Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury. He was minus-1 in 17:24 of ice time.
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