POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 4, Jackets 3

Four From The Road - The Caps played their first set of back-to-back games this season - and their first of three such sets in a span of just 11 days - on Thursday and Friday in Detroit and Columbus, respectively, and made quite a memorable journey of it.

Washington won the opener 2-0 behind Zach Fucale's 21-save shutout in his NHL debut over the Red Wings in Detroit, and it took the back end in Columbus on Conor Sheary's goal late in regulation, earning a 4-3 victory over the Blue Jackets. The Caps returned home with four points and carrying a modest three-game winning streak, their longest of the season.
The Caps returned home in a first-place tie with Carolina at the top of the Metropolitan Division standings, though they've played two more games than the Hurricanes.
Playing on the road and with four rookie forwards in the lineup in place of four injured veterans, the Caps trailed for less than eight minutes of the 120 minutes of hockey they played in those two nights. The red-hot Evgeny Kuznetsov line was responsible for generating Washington's first goal in each of the road games, but the Caps got secondary scoring contributions for each of the other four goals on the trip.
In Friday's win, Garnet Hathaway scored his first two goals of the season to give Washington a short-lived two-goal lead in the second period, and Sheary's second goal of the season gave the Caps the two points, simultaneously sparing them the uncertainty of overtime while denying a point to a fellow Metro Division denizen.
"Obviously a great battle," says Ovechkin of the win over the Blue Jackets. "I don't think we have a pretty good start, but we just keep playing the same way, playing our way, and getting the result. Obviously, Hath's goals were huge. It gave us momentum.

"But give [Columbus] credit. They didn't stop playing and they bounced back. Shears scored a great goal, a huge goal, and it's a huge two points."
After Hathaway had staked the Caps to a 3-1 lead with the third two-goal game of his NHL career, the Jackets stormed back to tie the game with two goals in a span of just 22 seconds. The game remained deadlocked until Sheary's goal decided it with 1:22 left.
Columbus had been idle since Saturday, and although they were the fresher team they weren't able to take the lead back, and Washington did not show a lack of legs in the latter stages of the contest after playing and traveling the night before.
"The back-to-backs, they're tough," says Hathaway. "We're lucky you don't play 82 back-to-backs. But I thought we came out fast. It was a big talking point in our room to say, 'Hey, we played last night, we've got to play the same way, and they're going to be ready to go.
"I thought we stepped up. It was a great team game and it was great to contribute, but I thought everyone kind of stepped up tonight."
Free Four - Ovechkin made more history on Friday night in Columbus, scoring Washington's first goal of the game just past the midpoint of the first period. The was his 12th of the season and the 742nd of his NHL career, which is one more than Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull (741) had during his own NHL career, which ended early in Ovechkin's rookie season of 2005-06.
Ovechkin now stands alone in fourth place on the all-time goals list, two dozen tallies behind third-place Jaromir Jagr (766). With a dozen goals in 14 games this season, Ovechkin is off to a torrid start. He is second in the league to Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl (14). Ovechkin's 18.8% shooting pct. this season is easily the best of his career; his previous high was 15.4% in 2019-20.
"That line has been good, and Ovi has been fantastic," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "He is working, he sets the tone for our team, and he probably could have had another one or two tonight. He was firing.

"But what he has done is incredible, and he won't stop. He'll keep pushing."
Wayne Gretzky's 894 career goals is the holy grail and the magic number, and Ovechkin is now 153 goals shy of passing The Great One for the top spot. As NHL Public Relations Tweeted on Friday night, Ovechkin has scored 154 goals in his last 240 games. He netted his 700th career goal on Feb. 22, 2020 in New Jersey, and since then has tallied 42 goals in just 67 games, a pace that would translate to 51 goals over a full 82-game NHL campaign.
Among the top four goal scorers in League history, Ovechkin (68 GP) required the fewest games to go from No. 700 to No. 742. Howe needed 80 games to go from one to the other, fewer than both Gretzky (94 GP) and Jagr (155 GP).
Ovechkin is the second youngest NHL player to score 742 goals; Gretzky was 31 years and 22 days old when he netted No. 742 on Feb. 17, 1992. Gordie Howe was 41 years and 250 days old when he scored No. 742 on Dec. 6, 1969 and Jagr was 44 years and five days old when he netted his 742nd goal on Feb. 20, 2016.
Starting Point - Playing in his third NHL game on Friday in Columbus, Washington winger Axel Jonsson-Fjallby picked up his first NHL point with a primary helper on Hathaway's first goal of the game, just 24 seconds into the second period.
Jonsson-Fjallby started the sequence by interrupting Zach Werenski's intended breakout feed in Blue Jackets ice. The puck went right to Lars Eller, who put it right back on Jonsson-Fjallby's tape. At that point, the rookie winger had a good look of his own at the net and Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo, but he instead opted to feed Hathaway in the slot for the finish and a 2-1 Washington lead.
"We watched some video of their goalie," says Jonsson-Fjallby. "And also [Caps goalie Zach Fucale] had some ideas about [Korpisalo] being a pretty aggressive goalie. So you just try to fake the shot and then make him move, because he is so aggressive. On the first shot I had, he was pretty aggressive so I just tried to find someone else."
After logging just 5:44 in ice time against Buffalo in his NHL debut on Monday, Jonsson-Fjallby skated 12:57 in the win over Detroit and 13:03 against the Blue Jackets.
"Comparing the first game to [the Detroit game] and even more today, I feel a lot more comfortable," says Jonsson-Fjallby. "Although I felt like my game [against Columbus] was pretty bad; I made too many bad decisions and bad passes. But I learned from it, and I'm trying to get better."
By The Numbers - John Carlson led the Caps with 23:15 in ice time … Ovechkin and Daniel Sprong led the Capitals with four shots on net each … Ovechkin and Carlson led the way with seven shot attempts each … The Caps outhit Columbus 27-12 on the night, led by Hathaway's seven … Tom Wilson recorded a team high four shot blocks.