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Ovechkin Hits 40 For NHL-Record 13th Time In Washington’s Thrilling 7-6 Overtime Loss To Columbus

By Harrison Brown·

Photo: Twitter: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals were edged the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 7-6 in overtime at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves in the loss.

Washington’s Lines vs. Columbus

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Anthony Mantha — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Craig Smith
Sonny Milano — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary — Nic Dowd — Aliaksei Protas

Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Martin Fehervary
Matt Irwin — Gabriel Carlsson

Charlie Lindgren
Zach Fucale

Scratched: LW Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Injured: D John Carlson (skull/severed temporal artery, missed 36th straight game, out day-to-day); RW Connor Brown (ACL, 68th, indefinite); LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 72nd, indefinite); G Darcy Kuemper (upper-body, second, day-to-day); D Nick Jensen (upper-body, third, day-to-day); D  Trevor Van Riemsdyk (birth of child, first, day-to-day)

Sheary dropped to the fourth-line while Wilson took his spot. Oshie moved down by one to the right side while Smith was lifted one. Mantha drew back in, replacing Aube-Kubel, and skated on Kuznetsov’s line with Wilson getting promoted. With Van Riemsdyk out, Jensen played with Sandin.

Columbus’ Lines

Johnny Gaudreau — Patrik Laine — Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson — Boone Jenner — Jack Roslovic
Liam Foudy — Cole Sillinger — Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson — Lane Pederson — Mathieu Olivier

Nick Blankenburg — Erik Gudbranson
Tim Berni — Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther — Adam Boqvist

Daniil Tarasov
Michael Hutchinson

Scratched: G Elvis Merzlikins

Injured: C Sean Kuraly (left oblique strain, ninth, week-to-week); C Justin Danforth (torn labrum, 64th, month-to-month); D Zach Werenski (separated shoulder/torn labrum, 57th, season); D Jake Bean (torn labrum, 55th, season); RW Yegor Chinakov (ankle, 39th, indefinite)

First Period

Scoring

5:12, 1-0 Washington: Blackenburg, who was in a battle with Strome for positioning, tipped the puck in from the goal crease to finish off a cross-rink tic-tac-toe passing play that also featured Ovechkin and Wilson. Strome, who earned the secondary assist, has 16 points (six goals) in his last 12 games and 53 (21) in 56 career games in March, his highest point total in a single calendar month in his career. Ovechkin, who became the fourth player in NHL history to score 40 or more goals at age 37 or older (Gordie Howe: 44 in 1968-69; Johnny Bucyk: 40 in 1972-73; Brendan Shanahan: 40 in 2005-06), has an NHL-record 13 40-goal seasons. Since 2005-06, Ovechkin’s rookie season, no other player has more than six 40-goal seasons.

9:10, 2-0: Oshie tipped in Fehervary’s wrister from the top in the slot after Milano fed Fehervary from the right dot. Milano tallied his 21st assist of the season, which establishes a new single-season career high (20 in 2021-22). Oshie has recorded 17 points (nine goals) in his last 17 games.

16:00, 3-0: Sheary one-timed a shot to the top shelf from the slot after Sandin threw the puck to the middle with a defenseman coming towards him for his first goal in 21 games.

16:45, 3-1: Pederson tapped Olivier’s rebound through Lindgren after Olivier spun off a Washington defender on the half-wall and powered to the net before getting denied with the pad. Robinson got a touch on the shot before it went in.

Stats:

Screenshot: NHL.com

Second Period

Scoring

6:57, 3-2: Blackenburg got the puck at the point off of an offensive zone faceoff win, protected the puck with a defender on him, and slipped one in from down low by the goal-line.

10:36, 4-2: After poking the puck back into the offensive zone at the blueline, Milano took it to the net on the backhand and drilled a give-and-go with Backstrom into an empty cage in front. It’s Milano’s second point of the game, marking his sixth multi-point game of the season. Oshie’s 10 multi-point games this season are currently tied for third on Washington (Ovechkin: 19; Strome: 13; Kuznetsov: 10).

15:01, 4-3: Sillinger’s slapper from the high slot squeaked through the five-hole of Lindgren and sputtered across the goal-line after he got a feed from the halfwall by Johnson.

19:53, 5-3: Jensen stepped in and ripped a wrister to the top left corner from the slot after getting fed by Dowd, who circled around the offensive zone, by the half-wall. Dowd tied his career high in points (10 goals, 24 points in 64) in six fewer games. 24 of Jensen’s 25 points this season have come at even strength.

Stats:

Screenshot: NHL.com

Third Period

Scoring

6:37, 5-4: Boqvist ripped one over the glove of Lindgren from the left dot after getting a feed by Foudy from behind the goal-line off of the forecheck.

8:35, 5-5: Bemstrom bombed a one-timer from the left dot after Laine found him all alone and laid a backhand feed to him from the point.

15:24, 6-5 Washington: Jensen took the puck from end-to-end, softly dangled past Gudbranson in the left dot, and put it to the left corner on Tarasov. It marks Jensen’s second career two-goal game (other: Oct. 11, 2018 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs as a member of the Detroit Red Wings).

19:14, 6-6: Jenner buried a rebound off of Johnson’s sharp-angle shot from the low left dot in the blue paint.

Stats:

Screenshot: NHL.com

Overtime

Scoring

2:43, 7-6 Columbus: Roslovic one-timed a cross-ice feed from Gaudreau underneath the crossbar glove side on a two-on-one.

Stats:

Screenshot: NHL.com

Current Eastern Conference Wild-Card Standings

Washington is now five points back of the Florida Panthers (who have a game in hand) for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference; four behind the Pittsburgh Penguins (two) for the third; and leapfrogged the Ottawa Senators (one) by one for the fourth. They are also now two in front of the Buffalo Sabres (two) and five ahead of Detroit (two) for the fifth.

Next game: Thursday vs. Chicago Blackhawks (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown