Caps Shed Jackets on Late Sheary Goal

Overtime hasn't been kind to the Capitals this season, but they discovered a workaround to that problem on Friday night in Columbus. Embroiled in yet another tie game late in the third period, the Caps managed to net the go-ahead goal 82 seconds before the end of regulation and taking a 4-3 win over their Metro Division rivals.

Conor Sheary slipped a shot past Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo on the short side at 18:38 of the third, giving Washington its second win in as many nights on the road and extending the team's winning streak to three.
A night after winning on the road in Detroit, the Caps took down a rested Columbus team that hadn't played in nearly a week.
"We were again a bit slow out of the gate," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "That could just be the travel or whatever. I thought the first 10 minutes of the first period, they were flying. And once we got past that, I thought [goaltender Ilya Samsonov] had a couple of big saves in there early."
Columbus struck first, getting a goal from its fourth line on the trio's first shift of the evening. Justin Schultz blocked a point shot and Samsonov stopped a follow up from Alexandre Texier, but Sean Kuraly pounced on the rebound to make it a 1-0 game for the Jackets at 2:33 of the first.
Washington answered back just past the midpoint of the first when Alex Ovechkin netted his 12th goal of the season on a wrist shot from just inside the left circle at 10:19. The goal came off the rush and off a feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov.

The goal was also No. 742 of Ovechkin's career, pushing him one goal past Brett Hull (741) for sole possession of fourth place on the NHL's all-time goals ledger.
"Obviously it means a lot," says Ovechkin. "When you start playing hockey and you come to the NHL you never feel like you're going to be in that position with those names. But it's a special moment for me, my parents, my brother, wife and kids. It's pretty huge."
In the first half minute of the second period, the Caps took the lead. Columbus turned it over deep in their own end when Axel-Jonsson Fjallby interrupting Zach Werenski's breakout feed. The puck bounded to Lars Eller, who went right back to Jonsson-Fjallby. He in turn fed Garnet Hathaway in the high slot, who fired it home for a 2-1 Washington lead, just 24 seconds into the second.
Seven minutes later, Hathaway notched his second of the night to expand the Caps' advantage. Ovechkin forced a Columbus turnover at the Washington line, and Eller scooted up the wall with it. As he approached the Jackets' line, Eller sprung Hathaway into the zone. The winger ripped a shot past Korpisalo high on the glove side to make it a 3-1 game at 7:23.

Just 48 seconds after Hathaway netted his second of the night, Kuraly did the same. He carried into Washington ice, then shimmied around John Carlson to the inside before beating Samsonov with a wrist shot at 8:11 of the second.
A mere 22 seconds later, the game was all even once again. Oliver Bjorkstrand sent Gustav Nyquist into Capitals territory on a breakaway, and the winger neatly tucked a backhander through Samsonov's pads to make it a 3-3 contest at 8:33.
"The second period, I thought we came out and played really good at the start and got a lead," says Laviolette. "And then we just made a couple of mistakes that we typically haven't made. All of a sudden they gained some momentum and then they were pressing, and they hit the post a couple of times."
The Caps and Jackets headed to the third all even, a situation that should have favored the rested Jackets. But Washington didn't display a lack of legs in the third.
With their first power play of the game in the back half of the final frame, the Caps had the Jackets on the ropes; Andrew Peeke was hobbled from eating a couple of Ovechkin shots, and another Columbus defender was playing without a stick. But Carlson's shot went over the net, and the sequence came to a halt when Kuznetsov was boxed for interference.
The Caps killed off the resulting power play and went to work with a couple of good shifts in the attack zone, finally breaking through on Sheary's goal in the penultimate minute of regulation.
After Korpisalo stopped the deflection of Nick Jensen's right point shot, the puck came back out to Jensen, who went across to partner Dmitry Orlov. Orlov took it to center point for a better look, then put it through a wide seam for the lefty-shooting Sheary, who was just below the right dot. The winger settled it and shot it in, all in one motion, sparing the Caps from playing beyond regulation and denying a divisional rival a point.
"There was kind of a scramble in front," recounts Sheary. "Their coverage was a little messed up and once it went up to our [defense], I kind of found a seam and Orly saw me and gave me a nice pass. I had a little bit of time to shoot, so I just tried to get it short side as best as I could. And luckily, it went in."

Sheary's late strike allowed the Caps to avoid overtime, where they've lost all four games that have gone into an extra session this season.
"You've got to like the perseverance," says Laviolette, "playing and traveling last night and guys stepping up and getting it done and getting the win in regulation."