Photo by Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals downed the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 Friday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The win improves the Capitals record to 8-2-4 (20 points) on the season.
SUMMARY
The Blue Jackets struck less than three minutes into the contest on Sean Kuraly’s first goal of the season. Alex Ovechkin would answer with his 742nd career NHL goal to tie the game midway through the first period.
Garnet Hathaway would tally just 24 seconds into the middle frame to give the Capitals their first lead. He would score again just seven minutes later to make it 3-1 midway through the second period. But the Jackets would answer quickly with two goals to tie the game 3-3 midway through the second period.
The Capitals would take a late lead on a goal from Conor Sheary with less than two minutes remaining in regulation and win it, 4-3.
STATS
STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (3-0-0-1, 2.91 GAA, .893 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Joonas Korpisalo (2-2-0, 3.43 GAA, .905 sv%) got the start in goal for the Blue Jackets. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Injured: Nic Dowd, Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (lower-body), Anthony Mantha (shoulder), Vitek Vanecek (lower-body)
FIRST PERIOD
The Blue Jackets opened the scoring with a quick tally by Sean Kuraly at 2:33 of the first period. Alexandre Texier (1) and Eric Robinson (3) had the helpers.
From Dublin dreams to the real thing ❤️@sean_kuraly pic.twitter.com/3NA4QC01bF
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 13, 2021
The Capitals would answer midway through the period with a tally from Alex Ovechkin at 10:19 of the first period. The goal was Ovechkin’s 742nd career NHL goal, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the league’s all-time goals list. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson had the assists.
Where were you when @ovi8 scored No. 742? pic.twitter.com/UAxGbA70KF
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 13, 2021
The period would end with the game tied, 1-1. The Blue Jackets led in shot attempts 21-15 in the opening stanza.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would take their first lead of the game early in the middle frame with a goal from Garnet Hathaway (1) just 24 seconds into the second period. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (1) and Lars Eller (5) had the assists. Jonsson-Fjallby’s assist was his first career NHL point.
What is loveeeeee pic.twitter.com/BW29lZSyca
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 13, 2021
Garnet Hathaway (2) would strike again at 7:23 of the second period. Lars Eller (6) and Alex Ovechkin (12) had the assists.
Top 🧀 pic.twitter.com/kYg39rw8d1
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 13, 2021
But the Blue Jackets would quickly answer with two goals. Sean Kuraly would cut the Capitals lead to 3-2 with his second tally of the night at 8:11 of the middle frame.
.@sean_kuraly @sean_kuraly @sean_kuraly @sean_kuraly @sean_kuraly pic.twitter.com/66Tv6alJZ1
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 13, 2021
The Blue Jackets would then tie the game 22 seconds later with a goal from Gustav Nyquist (2) at 8:33 of the second period.
THE GOOSE IS LOOSE pic.twitter.com/uQbeKhiEQE
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 13, 2021
The second period would end with the game tied 3-3. The Blue Jackets led in shot attempts 18-15 in the middle frame and 39-30 after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals would take a late lead with a tally from Conor Sheary (2) at 18:30. Dmitry Orlov (5) and Nick Jensen (4) had the helpers.
The go-ahead goal from Shears! pic.twitter.com/Lhg5SL4nTN
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 13, 2021
They would hang on for the 4-3 win.
The Capitals are back in action on Sunday when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM.
SHAVINGS
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 742nd career goal, passing Brett Hull (741g) for fourth on the NHL’s all-time goals list. Ovechkin, who owns the highest career goals per game rate (0.61) among the top-5 goal scorers in NHL history, has scored 12 goals in 14 games this season (0.86 G/GP)
- Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded the primary assist on Ovechkin’s goal, his 13th of the season, which is tied for fifth in the NHL.
- 24 seconds into the second period, Garnet Hathaway scored his first goal of the season and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby will record his first career point with an assist.
- Garnet Hathaway scored his second goal of the game to give the Caps a 3-1 lead. That marks Hathaway’s third career multi-goal game and his second with the Capitals (Dec. 3 at San Jose, 2019).
- The Capitals have had five different rookie skaters record a point this season, tied with the Anaheim Ducks for the second-most in the NHL (San Jose: eight rookie skaters with at least one point).
- Evgeny Kuznetsov extended his assist streak to three games (5a) with an assist against Columbus.
- Ovechkin’s 24 points (12g, 12a) in 14 games this season rank third in the NHL.
- Ovechkin has recorded eight multi-point efforts in 14 games this season.
- Tonight marked Alex Ovechkin’s 381st multi-point game, leaving him one shy of tying Brett Hull and Teemu Selanne for the 22nd-most multi-point games in NHL history.
- Conor Sheary’s goal at 18:38 of the third period marked the Capitals’ latest game-winning goal scored in regulation this season. Both of Sheary’s goals this season have come in the final 10 minutes of regulation (also Nov. 1 at Tampa Bay, 11:38 into the third period).
- The Capitals improve to 8-2-4 on the season and 4-1-1 on the road. Washington’s .750 road point percentage ranks tied for fourth in the NHL.
By Jon Sorensen
