Capitals score seven on Columbus behind two goals from Connor McMichael

The Washington Capitals got off to a hot start and never looked back as they routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2. Aliaksei Protas got the party started 56 seconds into the game with his fourth goal of the season off feeds from Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin.

Connor McMichael would double the lead at 1:42 off a feed from Rasmus Sandin. Andrew Mangiapane notched his third goal of the season at 7:28 with Jakub Vrana and Hendrix Lapierre helping out.

Alex Ovechkin would then score his sixth goal of the season at 14:34 off a slapshot from the office. Dylan Strome and Protas assisted there and it put the Great Eight 36 goals from passing Wayne Gretzky. It was also the third straight multi point game for Ovi.

Nic Dowd made it 5-0 at 14:58 on a backhanded shot with Trevor van Riemsdyk and Brandon Duhaime providing the helpers.

In the second period Damon Severson got the Blue Jackets on the board 49 seconds into the stanza. McMichael answered with his second goal of the night and seventh goal of the season with Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois assisting there.

Kevin Labanc would score the final goal of the night for Columbus at 14:36 on a poke shot. Dylan Strome would put the game away with a snapshot at 18:34. Alex Ovechkin and Taylor Raddysh assisted there.

The Caps did all of this despite being outshot 36-22 as Logan Thompson made 34 saves for a .944 save percentage. The victory vaulted the Caps to 8-2-0 with 16 points, good for first in the Metropolitan Division.

Dylan Strome told the media after the game via Tarik El-Bashir on X:

We're obviously having a good time scoring goals right now. Offense is coming from every line. It's nice to see everyone chipping in. In the first period - every line had a goal. It makes you feel good about yourself.

McMichael, who has a team best seven goals in 10 games, added, "I for sure worked on my shot (in the offseason). But for the most part, it's confidence. When I'm around the net, I have a lot of confidence of trying to beat the goalie, whereas before I was just trying to get it to the net and maybe not beat the goalie. It's just confidence for me right now so I'm trying to ride that.

The Caps will look to continue their winning momentum tomorrow night when they hit the road to take on the Carolina Hurricanes with another 5 p.m. puck drop.