Tuesday at Capital One Arena, the Washington Capitals lost 7-6 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets despite Alex Ovechkin scoring his 40th goal of the season.
It marks Ovechkin’s 13th season in which he has scored at least 40 goals, surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Ovechkin stated, “It’s a really nice moment.” “It makes no difference what type of record it is. It’s a record, right?”
Reaches milestone for NHL-record 13th season
Jack Roslovic scored the game-winning goal for Columbus at 2:43 of overtime by one-timing a feed from Johnny Gaudreau on a 2-on-1.
Roslovic stated about Gaudreau, “He’s a passer.” “He was outside for some time. But, once you obtain a 2-on-1, you receive a surge of energy. It was a pleasure to get the puck from him and insert it.”
Roslovic’s goal followed a 6-6 draw by Boone Jenner with 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
“Every time we scored, they would respond with a goal, but I appreciated how we remained resilient and were rewarded tonight,” Jenner said. “A courageous victory for us.”
Nick Jensen scored twice, while T.J. Oshie and Sonny Milano each recorded a goal and an assist for the Capitals (33-31-8), who are 1-3-1 in their last five contests. Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves.
Washington sits five points behind the Florida Panthers, who have a game in hand, for the second Eastern Conference wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tom Wilson, a forward with the Caps, remarked, “It’s not coming easily right now.” “Tonight, we shot ourselves in the foot a bit. Some of these games can be rather open, and that’s what the opposing club wants, so we’ve got to make sure we’re maintaining strong habits and principles, as the game got away from us a bit.”
Adam Boqvist scored twice, while Emil Bemstrom and Eric Robinson each recorded a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (22-41-7), who trailed 3-0 after one session. Daniil Tarasov made 31 saves.
“After the first period, I believed we played a decent game,” remarked Pascal Vincent, an assistant coach for Columbus when Brad Larsen was absent due to a family death. “The men continued to battle, and it was a fascinating game. The game was enjoyable to coach. That was a wonderful game to participate in.”
Robinson scored 45 seconds later to make it 3-1 on a rebound in front, and Boqvist trimmed it to 3-2 at 6:57 of the second period with a shot from below the right circle that he roofed short side.
At 10:36, Milano answered for the Caps to make the score 4-2. He skated in and gave the ball to Nicklas Backstrom, who passed it back to Milano, who scored at the right post with a tap-in.
Roslovic scored a power-play goal at 15:01, one-timing the puck past Lindgren’s pads to make the score 4-3.
“We’ve taken a lot of punches this year, and it will be beneficial for us in the long run to learn how to persevere through adversity,” Roslovic said.
At 19:52, Jensen made it 5-3 with a glove-side shot from the high slot.
At 6:37 of the third period, Boqvist scored from the left circle on a feed from Lane Pederson underneath the goal line to pull Columbus within 5-4.
At 8:35, Bemstrom knotted the game with a one-timer from the left circle.
At 15:24, Jensen put the Caps back in ahead, 6-5. Underneath the left circle, he lifted a backhand over Tarasov’s right shoulder.
Washington coach Peter Laviolette stated, “We must win a hockey game.” “We scored six goals to their none. In the beginning of the second period, when the score is 3-1, we must seal the deal. When the score is 5-3, we must secure victory. We must seal the deal when we score a late goal to take the lead. We were unable to accomplish any of those.”