The Washington Capitals dropped Sunday evening's contest to the Columbus Blue Jackets by a final of 4-1.
Alex Ovechkin gets 896 in the loss
Alex Ovechkin, greeted by Juicy J before the game for his Bandz a Make Her Dance ritual, struck first for his 43rd goal of the season. It was assisted by Dylan Strome for his 52nd assist of the season at 1:10 into the contest.
After that the Blue Jackets answered with four straight goals. Zach Werenski tied it at 14:36. 1-1 was the score after one. Adam Fantilli gave the Blue Jackets the lead for good at 4:39 in the second period. In the third Fantilli added his second of the game at 1:57 then at 15:48 Dmitri Voronkov put it away.
Blue Jackets outshot the Caps 10-7 after one. Caps led in shots 13-7 in the second. Caps outshot the Blue Jackets 10-6 in the third and 30-23 overall. Charlie Lindgren got the loss in net.
Both teams came up empty on their power plays as Columbus went 0 for 3 and Washington went 0 for 2. Caps led in face off percentage 61 percent to 39 percent. The Cpas had 32 hits compared to the Blue Jackets 16. Columbus had 11 giveaways and six takeaways while the Caps had 12 giveaways and four takeaways. Caps led in blocked shots 16-12.
The Blue Jackets move to three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and whoever gets that seed will face the Caps in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the loss, the Winnipeg Jets clinch the Presidents' Trophy. Lindgren made 19 saves in the defeat.
Next up for the Caps is two road games before the playoffs. First up is the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Puck drop for that is at 7:30 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.