The Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime to earn their franchise record 10th straight road win. The hero was none other than Aliaksei Protas who provided two goals including the overtime winner to secure the two points.
Nobody scored in the first period. Zach Werenski struck on the power play at 14:12 in the second period. 31 seconds into the third Protas tied it on assists from Pierre Luc-Dubois for his 16th apple and Jakob Chychrun for his ninth. Protas would then add his 11th of the season at 2:23 into overtime.
On Protas' second goal Dylan Strome assisted for his 17th of the season while Chychrun added his 10th. Washington had the edge in shots on goal 11-6 in the first period. The Blue Jackets had the shot edge in the middle stanza 16-13. The Caps bounced back in the third with a 12-8 shot advantage. The Caps were outshot 3-1 in overtime but had the winner and the edge in shots overall 37-33.
Charlie Lindgren was brilliant as he only allowed the one goal the entire night for a .970 save percentage. This was also a penalty filled game where the Caps went 0 for 1 on their lone power play chance while the Blue Jackets went 1 for 5.
For Protas it marked not only his first overtime winner but his first career multi goal game. Washington not only extended their raod winning streak to 10 games but also their point streak to eight games with a 7-0-1 record. Washington is one of 12 teams in NHL history to reach a road winning streak of 10 or more games in a season.
The Capitals are also the second team in the NHL to reach 20 wins (the Winnipeg Jets have 21) this season and have tied the franchise record for fewest games to 20 wins in a season. The Capitals are 12-2-0 on the road with an .857 point percentage this season and own the highest road point percentage in the NHL.
The Caps are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games against the Blue Jackets dating back to the 2021-22 season and have won six straight games at Nationwide Arena. The Capitals are back in action this Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres at Capital One Arena with a 7 p.m. puck drop on Monumental Sports Network.