POSTGAME NOTEBOOK - Caps 7, Jackets 2

Mo-Mentum - Washington winger Anthony Mantha got the Caps started on Thursday night in Columbus, scoring a pair of first-period goals to give the Caps a two-goal lead they would maintain and supplement over the remainder of the night in a 7-2 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus.

It marked the second straight game in which Mantha scored the game's first goal for Washington, and it was his first multi-goal game as a member of the Capitals and his first since Nov. 1, 2019 when he scored twice against the Hurricanes in Carolina while playing with the Detroit Red Wings.
Since returning to the Washington lineup after a four-month absence for shoulder surgery and rehab, Mantha has four goals and five points in seven games, coinciding with the Capitals current seven-game point streak (6-0-1). The Caps are the only NHL team without a regulation loss in the month of November.
In the Caps' previous game on Tuesday against the Islanders in Washington, Mantha scored the first goal and delivered the game-winning salvo in an eight-round shootout.
"It feels great," says Mantha. "I worked extremely hard for those four months and it just feels good to be out there playing, having fun. It's awesome, and the boys are cheering me on."
Take Five - After Mantha's two goals in the first enabled the Caps to carry a 2-0 lead into the second, Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary stretched that lead to 3-0 with his fifth goal of the season, doing so in the second minute of the second period.
John Carlson threaded a feed for Daniel Sprong, and it hit Sprong's stick and hopped right to Fehervary's blade, sending the two players into Columbus ice on a 2-on-none jailbreak. Fehervary didn't have enough room to return a feed to Sprong, so he threaded a shot through Joonas Korpisalo, ending the beleaguered Blue Jackets' netminder's night after he yielded three goals on nine shots.
For Fehervary, the goal was his fifth of the season, making him the first Washington rookie defenseman to score five goals in a season since Carlson himself had seven in 2010-11.
"That's really nice, obviously," says Fehervary. "Everyone likes to score the goals. It's always nice when I score, but I'm focused on my defensive game. But like I said, I'm trying to improve my offensive part and it feels always nice to score."
Six Pack -Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek turned in another excellent performance on Thursday, winning his sixth straight start to extend his career high streak. He made 39 saves on the night, including a few key stops in the first when the game was still close.
Vanecek faced a double-digit workload in all three frames, stopping all 13 shots he faced in the first and 16 of 17 in the second in his first career start against Columbus.
"Unbelievable," says Mantha of Vanecek's night in the nets. "The whole night, they obviously had a couple of power plays and he was strong as always in the last couple of months and he is playing unreal."
Vanecek's 39-save night is the fourth-highest single-game total of his NHL career. He has a .928 save pct. since Jan. 1, ranking fifth in the League over that span. Over the life of his winning streak, Vanecek has a 2.30 GAA and a .930 save pct.
The sophomore netminder's consistently strong play dates back more than three months now, to the middle of December. Since Dec. 11, Vanecek is 12-4-0 with three shutouts, a 2.19 GAA and a .928 save pct.
"He's great," says Fehervary of Vanecek. "He's done a really great job all season. Tonight too, it was a really hard game for him; a lot of whistles tonight. It's not easy for a goalie with a few penalties that we had to kill, and he was really, really great."
Helping Hands - With his assist on Fehervary's goal, Carlson reached the 40-assist plateau for the fifth time in his NHL career. In doing so, Carlson becomes the first defenseman in Washington's franchise history to author five seasons with 40 or more assists. He entered the 2021-22 season tied with Larry Murphy and Scott Stevens, each of whom had four seasons with 40 or more helpers in a Caps sweater.
Double Sawbuck - Evgeny Kuznetsov finished the scoring for Washington with a power-play goal in the third period, his 20th goal of the season. This is the fourth season in which Kuznetsov has scored 20 goals for the Caps, and he has also had a pair of 19-goal seasons.
Kuznetsov also has a seven-game point streak working (five goals, five assists). He is now one game shy of matching the longest point streak of his NHL career; he has had a pair of eight game streaks, with the most recent one from Nov. 30-Dec. 15, 2018 (10 assists).
Great Eight Update - Caps captain Alex Ovechkin netted his 280th career power-play goal on Thursday, adding to his NHL record total. He also baptized a new netminding victim, scoring against Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins for the first time, and making him his 155th unique red light victim. That ties Ovechkin with Wayne Gretzky (155) for fifth place on the all-time list. Jaromir Jagr holds the all-time NHL mark, scoring against 178 different netminders.
Power Surge - The Caps scored a pair of power-play goals in Thursday's game, the fourth time in their last seven games in which they've struck for multiple extra-man tallies. Washington has scored at least once on the power play in 13 of its last 18 games, and it is 18-for-58 (31.1 percent) over that span, ranking second in the circuit.
The Caps have crept back up to 19.2 percent on the power play on the season, ranking 22nd overall.
Hey Nineteen - In the seven games since the month of March got underway, the Caps have deployed 19 different skaters, and all 19 have recorded a point.
Down On The Farm -The AHL Hershey Bears were on the road on Thursday afternoon, facing the Marlies in Toronto in the first of three games in as many days. It didn't go well for the Bears, who came up empty in a 3-0 loss to their hosts.
Despite outshooting the Marlies 41-28 on the afternoon, the Bears were victimized by a combined shutout from starter Joseph Woll and Michael Hutchinson, who entered the game in relief after Woll was injured midway through the contest.
In a hockey rarity, both Toronto netminders were named as one of the game's three stars. Hutchinson was the game's first star; he made 20 stops in 29:55 of work. Woll was the third star for his 21-save effort in 30:05 in the crease.
Bears goalie Zach Fucale stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced in a losing effort, falling to 10-9-4 on the season.
The 29-22-4-3 Bears are right back in action on Friday night in Belleville when they face the Baby Sens at CAA Arena.
By The Numbers - Trevor van Riemsdyk led the Caps with 20:14 in ice time and with three blocked shots … All 18 Washington skaters recorded at least one shot on net, led by Mantha's five … Ovechkin led the Capitals with nine shot attempts … Garnet Hathaway led Washington with four hits … Nicklas Backstrom won eight of 11 face-offs (73 percent) … With an assist on alex Ovechkin's power-play goal in the second period, Tom Wilson matched his single-season career best of 23 assists. He also had 23 helpers in 2019-20.