Alex Ovechkin broke his 14-game goal drought – the longest dry spell of his 19-year career – in fine fashion on Thursday night in Columbus. With Washington on a power play in overtime of a 2-2 game, Ovechkin whipped a wrist shot past Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on the short side at 4:07 of overtime, giving the Caps their third straight victory, 3-2 over the Jackets. Each of the three wins was achieved in overtime or a shootout, and against a Metro Division opponent.
Ovechkin’s game-winning overtime goal was the 26th of his NHL career, adding to his all-time League record in that category.
“It’s been a while,” says the Caps’ captain. “I’ll take it.”
It was Merzlikins himself who put the Caps on the power play in overtime; the Columbus goaltender spent some time pummeling Tom Wilson with his catching and blocker gloves as the Washington winger lay prone in the Columbus net with just over two minutes left in overtime. The subsequent roughing minor to Merzlikins put the Caps’ power play on the ice for the third time in the evening, and Ovechkin and the extra-man crew cashed in for the second time.
“The power play steps up once again with a huge goal,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “And Tom Wilson too, I think he deserves a lot of credit for holding his composure there, where you knew what was going on there; Merzlikins was sort of trying to create an odd man rush and get in [Wilson’s] way there suddenly.
“But obviously, for Willie to hold his composure and draw the power play there, arguably you could say is the difference in the game.”
Playing for the second time in as many nights, the Caps essentially kept the same script that led them to a 3-2 overtime victory the previous night. They scored first, needed a second-period goal to regain the slim 2-1 lead they took to the third, and they hung on for dear life late, relying heavily on their goaltender – Darcy Kuemper on Wednesday against the Islanders, and Charlie Lindgren on Thursday in Columbus – to get them first one, and then eventually, two points, when Washington scored on the power play in overtime.
Thursday’s win pushes the Caps’ record to 6-0-0 on the second half of back-to-backs this season. In 2022-23, they were 2-8-1 in such games.
“This one was right up there with the most challenging that we’ve had this year,” says Carbery. “You could just tell in that third period – and we talked about it – and we knew what was coming. We had just been in this situation [Wednesday] night, and we had nothing in the tank, physically and mentally. So we were just trying to find a way to hang on, and gut our way through that third period.”
For the second time in as many nights, the Capitals broke the seal on the scoresheet. After successfully snuffing out a Columbus power play midway through the first, the Caps jumped in front on a power play of their own late in the opening frame.
Washington was able to keep the puck in the Columbus end for the entirety of the man advantage, and the Caps poured a few pucks toward the net before they got one to go. Ovechkin cranked three one-timers from his left dot office, missing once and being stopped twice by Merzlikins. When the puck came around to Ovechkin a fourth time, he surveyed briefly before slinging a wrist shot to the front where big-bodied wingers Anthony Mantha and Wilson were parked. Mantha got a piece of the shot, and it trickled through Merzlikins for a 1-0 Washington lead at 18:24.
The Caps maintained that slim lead into the latter stages of the second. Both goaltenders made key stops in the middle period; Lindgren gloved down a Kent Johnson shot after a turnover deep in the Washington zone, and he made a stop on Ivan Provorov under similar circumstances late in the period.
At the opposite end, Merzlikins thwarted Wilson’s tap in try of an Ovechkin slap pass from the top of the paint, and he moved laterally to the right to deny John Carlson’s one-timer from the left dot.
Weaved between those stops were a pair of goals, one on each side. Minutes after a dominant Washington power play failed to bear fruit, the Jackets put together a lengthy offensive zone shift in which they were able to get a personnel change, and to pull even with the Caps on an Cole Sillinger’s tip-in of an Emil Bemstrom one-timer at 15:18.
Just over two minutes later, the Caps jumped back in front on Mantha’s second goal of the game. From high in the middle of the ice, Carlson dealt a feed to Aliaksei Protas, who was just below the dot on the right side. Protas quickly dished to Mantha, who tucked it under the bar from between the circles, making it 2-1 at 17:24.
Columbus squandered an excellent chance to pull even when it flubbed a 2-on-none, short ice rush chance with just over a minute left in the middle frame. The Jackets weren’t able to manage a shot attempt on the play, as the puck rolled harmlessly away from Yegor Chinakhov.
It was Chinakhov who tied the game with 7:11 remaining in regulation, however. From the inside of the right circle, he beat Lindgren after receiving a sweet setup from linemate Dmitri Voronkov.
Lindgren made 34 saves to nail down his seventh victory of the season, and he spent much of the latter part of the game bailing out his fatigued teammates after turnovers and poor puck decisions.
“He was outstanding tonight, especially in that third period when the zone time was so slanted,” says Carbery. “We spent a lot of time in the defensive zone.”
“I love this team,” exudes Lindgren. “It’s a great team to play for. We all buy in for each other; you can see it, shift in and shift out. We’ve just got guys who compete extremely hard, even when it’s hard physically, even though it’s hard mentally. We still find that extra gear to keep on going, keep on fighting. That’s a huge two points.”
Aside from the two points, the biggest development from Thursday’s game was the Ovechkin goal, No. 828 of his career. He’s had the puck more in recent games, he has had better looks at the net, and he has just missed on a few occasions – he rang iron earlier in Thursday night’s game. In the past, one goal would sometimes unleash the floodgates, leading to a hot streak.
“Yeah, I hope so,” says Ovechkin. “Pretty good chances in the first, and in the second obviously as well. Sometimes, you have to keep pushing and keep grinding. I’m happy it goes in, and I hope there’s going to be – right away – more.”
