Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 3-2 in overtime at Nationwide Arena on Thursday to extend their winning-streak to three games. They are also 5-1-2 over their last eight and completed the sweep of Columbus in the regular-season series between the two teams.
Washington, who improved to 17-9-4 overall (.633 points percentage), is 6-0-0 in the second game of back-to-backs and 9-2-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves in the victory.
Washington’s Lines
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Ivan Miroshnichenko — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Matthew Phillips
Aliaksei Protas — Hendrix Lapierre — Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson — Nick Jensen
Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: RW Matthew Philipps, D Alexander Alexeyev, C Michael Sgarbossa
Injured: LW Max Pacioretty (Achilles), C Nicklas Backstrom (hip), RW T.J. Oshie (lower-body), LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
Columbus’ Lines
Johnny Gaudreau – Adam Fantilli – Justin Danforth
Yegor Chinakhov – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Emil Bemstrom
Brendan Gaunce – Sean Kuraly – Alexandre Texier
Zach Werenski – David Jiricek
Ivan Provorov – Andrew Peeke
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin
Scratched: RW Mathieu Olivier, D Nick Blankenburg, G Daniil Tarasov
Injured: RW Patrik Laine (fractured clavicle), C Boone Jenner (fractured jaw), D Adam Boqvist (shoulder strain), D Damon Severson (oblique), CJack Roslovic (fractured ankle)
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring
18:24, 1-0 Washington (PPG): After getting set up by Carlson from the point, Ovechkin one-timed a shot from the left circle and Mantha tipped it through the five-hole of Merzlikins with him and Wilson in front of the cage. The goal marked Mantha’s fourth game-opening goal of the season, which leads the Capitals and ranks tied for the fifth most in the NHL. Washington has scored seven power-play goals in their last 11 games. Ovechkin has factored in on eight of Washington’s 10 power-play goals this season (eight assists).
#ALLCAPS 1-0. MANTHA TIPS IT ON THE PP pic.twitter.com/1stWNSARIC
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) December 22, 2023
Shots: 10-7 Washington
Other Notable Stats: 58% Washington in faceoffs, 5-4 Washington in blocked shots, 5-1 Columbus in hits
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring
15:18, 1-1: Bemstrom rifled a slapper past the blocker of a screened Lindgren after executing a give-and-go with Gaudreau, who was behind the net.
Emil Bemstrom ties it up for the Jackets at 1!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/XfR65Jt8oY
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 22, 2023
17:24, 2-1 Washington: Mantha roofed a wrister to the top left corner blocker side on Merzlikins from the slot after getting a feed from Protas at the goal-line to finish a three-way passing play. The 29-year-old recorded his second multi-goal game of the season and the 17th of his career. Protas (12 assists, 15 points in 29 games) has tied his single-season career high in points (2022-23: 11 assists in 58) in exactly half the amount of games. With the secondary helper, Carlson earned his fourth multi-assist game of the season, which tied him with Protas for the most on the team.
#ALLCAPS 2-1. MANTHA TWO GOAL GAME, AMAZING PASS FROM PROTAS!
Protas is so good man pic.twitter.com/ll8rjRrIOS— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) December 22, 2023
Shots: 23-20 Columbus, including 16-10 in the second
Other Notable Stats: Washington, who had two power plays up to this point, led 13-12 in blocked shots. Columbus, who had one, led 8-3 in hits.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring
12:49, 2-2: Chinakov released a wicked wrister past the glove of Lindgren from the slot after Voronkov set him up from the right half-wall.
Shots: 35-28 Columbus (12-7 in the third)
Other Notable Stats: 20-14 Columbus in blocked shots, 9-5 Columbus in hits
Overtime
Scoring
4:08, 3-2 Washington (PPG): Ovechkin wristed one past the blocker of Merzlikins from the left dot after getting a cross-ice feed from Carlson to end his 14-game goal drought. Including postseason goals, Ovechkin’s goal marks the 900th of his career (828 regular-season goals, 72 postseason goals).
Ovi wins it!! 🦅
Alex Ovechkin’s goal in the final minute of the extra frame is the @Energizer overtime winner! pic.twitter.com/PCsxkPN6uf
— NHL (@NHL) December 22, 2023
Shots: 37-33 Columbus (6-2 Washington in overtime)
Standings
Washington jumped a point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference (but have three games in hand) and Tampa Bay Lightning (four). They are currently four in front of the New Jersey Devils (one) and Detroit Red Wings (three) in addition to being one behind the New York Islanders (four) and Philadelphia Flyers (two) in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Next game: Saturday vs. Tampa Bay (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)
By Harrison Brown
Elvis and Tom in OT trying to decide who gets to stay in the net
https://twitter.com/i/status/1738026687944642771
That was such a strange sequence. Cost Columbus the game.
Walton just kept saying how stupid Elvis was, over and over and over. Really frustrating not being able to see it so started searching for video immediately.
I think that will move Ovi up one on the goals list (838), total goals list (900), OT goal list, PP goal list, and GWG list. Am I right?
Believe you are right
Ovi has 828 RS, total 900, incl. PO (72).
Yeah, I got 10 ahead of myself on goals. Ovi is first in PPG with 301 (Andreychuk is second is 274), first in OTG with 26 (Sid is second is 20), and second in game winning goals with 125 (Jagr is first with 135).
Or maybe Ovi fell behind. 10 is approx. his xG minus G so far this season 😉
Wishful thinking on my part.
If #21 only had a red beard, I’d swear he was Peter Forsberg. I had no idea he was THAT good of a passer. Be nice if he potted a few more goals, but I’m still deeply impressed.
True. Protas’ natural position is center which is why his skillset is more suited to passing than goal scoring, but he’s improved by leaps and bounds this year regardless. He now has as many points this year in 29 games as he did last year in 58 games.
Miro had 9:36 TOI, one shot, no hits.
Wish Sgarbossa had been able to play. Kuzy had 0 hits 0 sog 14:41 TOI. With Bears playing tomorrow, I wonder who will be making their way to Hershey instead of DC.
That’s why Sgargossa didn’t play. My guess is he flew back to Hershey (not WSH) after the game. He will play for Bears tomorrow night.
As of 10am neither Caps, Bears, or AHL websites reporting any transfers back to the Bears. Bears do not have the recent callups listed on their roster. Bears play tonight in Springfield Mass and their pregame does not mention anyone coming back. So I wonder if Caps still concerned about absences for Saturday and everyone went back to DC.
love that Ovi finally got one and it was the GWG!!! Against Merzlikins. Only thing better would’ve been had Willy scored.
This is the best Ovi has looked all year long. Hopefully it’s the start of him getting back into shape. Also kudos to Wilson for not fighting back when we needed that PP. He’s really grown as a player as the years have gone on. He still provides that physical presence, but has gotten better at knowing when to pick a fight, not to mention his offensive skill has improved.
Instead, it was Columbus who lost their cool. First, Elvis had taken some unpenalized action against Wilson in regulation. Then, the penalized action in OT.
Caps HC Carbery: “Willy holding his composure there to get us on the power play in overtime.”
BJ HC Vincent: “Disappointing. That incident cost us. We have to control our emotions there. It’s disappointing.”
I think those two quotes say it all. A good lesson for a lot of young hockey players.
As soon as Willy got untangled from that net, he immediately gave it to Elvis. Threw him to the ground and landed a coupla punches on his noggin, Luckily, he didn’t go any further, as the refs rushed in, so we still ended up getting the PP.
“Willy holding his composure there to get us on the power play in overtime,” Carbery said. The entire locker room roared.
This is the key to being a great pest in the NHL. Wilson, Marchand, Perry, Maroon, Hornqvist, they all get the other player to react and draw the foul. Took Willy a long time to learn it. Getting sent to the box or worse yet suspended does not help your team. Getting the other player punished does.
Normally I’d be livid at 3 consecutive OT games against divisional opponents, but then we wouldn’t have gotten that beauty by Ovi, so I’ll forgive it. Plus it’s the Blue Jackets so who cares. It was a b2b game too so they were clearly not fully rested. Still though, would like to see a clean win.
How often do you see two consecutive wins on power play goals in overtime in a back to back set?
Also 6-0 in back half of B2B games. I’m pleased with run. But we need to capitalize on our early domination more. Once again could have been up 2 or 3 after one. Young guys still need to finish but i love what they are doing. Fun to watch.
That’s the crazy stat. Undefeated in second game of back to backs, all on the road too, I believe?
We had one other scratch today. Connor McMichael, scratched due to illness. (I doubt he flew with the team last night and they left him home.)
Amazing how helpless the Caps are against Full-court Press. Will they ever figure it out? And they continue to win games despite being outplayed most of sixty minutes
But for a change, enemy stupidity benefits the Caps. Elvis comes back from the dead and beats up Tom Wilson in the goal, in overtime. Just stupid. Thank you Elvis
Caps are STILL stuck in neutral. We’ll see if they snap out of it after Christmas. Caps winning all these one-goal, overtime games. Works for me. But they obviously need a lot …. Glad I don’t have to justify sending #45 out there every night to stink up the Caps effort
Phillips is actually a very good player. Makes good passes and is usually int he right places. He doesn’t get enough credit for his play. Perhaps you needs to pay a little more attention to detail here.
Agree, he’s definitely been way better in the last two games. May be learning the ropes in the NHL.
Merry Christmas andrew777dc and rotating-earth!
We got another overtime win! Go Caps!
But Wrongo-Bongo about Mr. Phillips! He has UNO goals and four measly assists and lots of healthy scratches after 30 games. Matty-boy is a MAJOR defensive liability due to being … tiny.
Barry Trotz is right: NHL is RESULTS league. 45 Phillips has MANY Guardian Angels looking after him this season. All 31 other NHL teams would have – rightly – shown him the door long ago. Maybe he’s good — but 8 or 9 of his Hershey teammates are better
Let’s Go Caps! Smoke the Lightning on Saturday!
Hi PD! MC2U2!
Well, in 22 games played he averaged just 8:46-10:35 per game, according to different stat resources (smth must be off here). Hard to put up some meaningful points in that TOI.
This equates to 0.29-0.31 G/60, 1.03-1.25 A/60, and 1.32-1.56 P/60. Not star material, but not too shabby, either, given he’s just settling in. Compare to other Hershey call-ups when they were just starting out.
Only -1 over these 22 games, only two GVA. In total! So not exactly a pushover, even despite his size.
My eye test says last few games he’s definitely made some improvement. Had he been more nimble when trying to finish or making that last pass, the stats would have quickly become more eye-pleasing.
Is he better than the other guys in Hershey? Of course not. I too am not sure TS should hang onto him as much as they do (even with the absence of a waivers clause). But not really a lost case; got spunk and character; coming around, it seems.
In addition, CF%, FF%, HDCF% are all above 50%.
Only 14 SOG cumulatively, which is 3.6-4.6 SOG/60. Now this has to go up considerably) A bit too timid, as yet, I suppose 🙂
From TheScore: Merzlikins believes it wasn’t an isolated incident.
“He slew-footed me (on the) very first shift. He was after me all game long. I was trying to grab my stick. I got punched in the head. Before that I’m pretty sure he was trying to get me hurt,” Merzlikins said postgame, per Bally Sports Columbus. “I was just trying to get my stick. I got punched. Enough. I’m gonna defend myself.”
“I don’t think any other player (on) their team would try to hurt me. Watch the replay. He was going straight at my knee. … He got what he deserved. I don’t care,” Merzlikins said. “Seriously, I could be out (for) the season. He was going straight at my knee with full speed. I get it, he was driving the net, I get it, but he could’ve avoided me. A lot of players avoid goalies.”
Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent condemned his goaltender for his actions.
“That incident cost us. We have to control our emotions there,” Vincent said. “It’s disappointing.”
BS! Willy was clearly pushed into Elvis and into the net by the Jackets D
The video clip from the BJ broadcaster Bally even makes that point. Wilson haters are twisting it but when the local feed doesn’t follow that narrative it’s bad. But Wilson haters aren’t going to go away.
Instant classic!
Good to see a little HATRED in the Gory Bottmann pantywaist NHL
GAWD I can’t wait until the little twit is gone
NJD=CH=NYI=PF=WC…. winner? trades+G-injuries…. I still think GMBM has to add a top 9 F such as Kuzmenko to play with Kutzy…
Can’t be good that Caps have all of four goals among defensmen after thirty games
Struggling a bit with “QuantHockey” statistical internet site … But was able to glean a reasonable statistic: 34 individual NHL Defensemen so far have more goals than all of the Caps defenders put together
It’s the 31st Anniversary of the season where Caps Defensemen ruled the day. Kevin Hatcher – 31 goals — Al Iafrate – 25 Goals — Sylvain Cote – 21 Goals — Calle Johansson 7 Goals. Even Paul Cavallini had 5 that season.
Scoring by NHL Defensemen is down big-time from the Glory Years of the Pre- Gory Bottmann era. But the Caps rumbling bumbling stumbling defense is an obvious reason why the Caps can’t score, can’t get out of their own zone, are Minus-Eight in goal differential …. And have to win games by a single goal while being outplayed, outshot, and outscored
Jon, I’m interested in your opinion: Tom Wilson is the new Dale Hunter. Beyond any statistical measurement, he is the MVP of this team and has his fingerprints on every Caps win. There’s a reason Hunter’s # is hanging from the rafters. His stats seldom receive(d) any NHL HOF consideration, but for the Caps he was HOF all the way. Wilson looks to be on the same path – he literally dominates the opposition when he is on the ice.