Alex Ovechkin Scores 750th Career Goal, Helps Washington Capitals Defeat Blue Jackets 3-1

TLDR; Goals from Protas and Hathaway help Capitals defeat Blue Jackets 3-1, Ovechkin scores 20th goal of the season, on the 152nd different goalie to reach 750-goal mark. Washington improves to 8-1-4 at home.

On this episode of Saturday Night Hockey in the Nation’s capital, the Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 3-1. Heading into the matchup, Washington had lost each of its last two games, though they still sat first in the division, and the Blue Jackets were riding a three-game losing streak.

Ilya Samsonov got the start for the Capitals, and it was Daniil Tarasov in net for Columbus. It was a surprise to many to see Tarasov start for a second straight game after Elvis Merzlikins and Jonas Korpisalo were both unavailable two nights before, and he tallied the loss in his NHL debut. Both T.J. Oshie and Conor Sheary returned to the Caps’ lineup. Oshie had missed the last 16 of 17 games with nagging lower-body injuries.

With Trevor van Riemsdyk in COVID-19 protocol, Matt Irwin played his first game with Washington this season.

Period 1:
Just beyond the 4:33 mark of the first period, Aliaksei Protas scored his 2nd goal of the season on a second-chance opportunity off his own rebound to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.

The first and only penalty of the game was called against Eric Robinson, as he went off for tripping just short of the seven-minute mark of the first. Though the Capitals would not score with the man-advantage, they also did not take any penalties throughout the full 60-minutes.

Period 2:
Just as he seems to do every game, Alex Ovechkin reached yet another milestone. Three minutes and 12 seconds into the middle frame, Ovechkin scored his 20th of the season to improve Washington’s lead to two-nil.

Not only was Columbus’ Tarasov the 152nd goalie Ovechkin has scored on in his career, but the goal was also Ovechkin’s 750th goal. In becoming the 7th player in NHL history to score 20 goals in 17 straight seasons, Ovi also became the 2nd fastest player in history to reach 750 career goals.

The Blue Jackets thought they’d pulled within one when Yegor Chinakov beat Samsonov less than a minute later, but the goal was overturned due to a successful off-sides challenge by Washington. The Caps held Columbus to just two shots on goal through the middle frame.

Period 3:

The Columbus Blue Jackets did get on the board once, with an Eric Robinson goal at the 6:28 mark of the third period. Garnet Hathaway sealed the win for Washington with yet another empty-net goal with under 90 seconds remaining in the game. His 7th goal of the season was unassisted.

The Capitals outshot the Blue Jackets 32-18 and goaltender Ilya Samsonov improved to 10-1-1 on the year. Columbus has been outscored 18-6 in their last four games, all of which have been losses, and includes a 6-0 shutout by the Predators.

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Kassie’s Three Takeaway’s of the Game

1. Washington gave up just 18 shots against, marking the second-fewest shots allowed in a game.
2. Both Matt Irwin and Connor McMichael tallied five shots on goal, which led the team.
3. The Blue Jackets dropped their 4th straight game, after going 5-1-1 in their previous seven matches.

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The Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks will face-off on Monday, December 6th at Capital One Arena, with puck drop coming shortly after 7:00 pm EST. The game can be watched on NHL Network, NBC Sports Washington, and Bally Sports West.