Ovechkin scores 40th, Capitals lose to Blue Jackets in OT

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 40th goal of the season, but the Washington Capitals blew a late lead before losing 7-6 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

It is Ovechkin's 13th season scoring at least 40 goals, passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.
"Yeah, it's a pretty cool moment," Ovechkin said. "It doesn't matter what kind of record it is. It's a record, you know?"
Jack Roslovic won the game for Columbus at 2:43 of overtime, scoring his second of the game on a one-timer off a pass from Johnny Gaudreau on a 2-on-1.
"He's a passer," Roslovic said of Gaudreau. "He was out there for a while. Anytime you get a 2-on-1 though you get a burst of energy. It was nice to get the puck from him and put it in."

Roslovic's goal came after Boone Jenner tied it 6-6 with 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
"Every time we'd score they'd come back and get one, but I liked how we just stuck with it and got rewarded tonight," Jenner said. "Gutsy win for us."
Nick Jensen scored twice, and T.J. Oshie and Sonny Milano each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (33-31-8), who are 1-3-1 in their past five games. Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves.
Washington is five points behind the Florida Panthers, who have one game in hand, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"Obviously, it's not coming easy right now," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. "We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit tonight. Some of these games here can be kind of open hockey, and that's kind of what the other team wants, and we got to make sure we're keeping it tight and good habits, good fundamentals, and it just got away from us a little."
Adam Boqvist scored twice, and Emil Bemstrom and Eric Robinson each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (22-41-7), who trailed 3-0 in the first period. Daniil Tarasov made 31 saves.
"After the first period, I thought we played a solid game," said Columbus associate Pascal Vincent, who coached the team with Brad Larsen away due to a death in the family. "The guys kept fighting and fighting, and it was an interesting game. It was a fun game to coach. It was a fun game to be a part of."

Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 5:12 of the first period when his backdoor pass to Dylan Strome deflected in off the stick of Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg.
Oshie made it 2-0 at 8:10 with a redirection of Martin Fehervary's shot from the point.
Conor Sheary pushed it to 3-0 at 16:00. Rasmus Sandin was able to fend off Jenner and send the puck to the high slot, where Sheary skated into it before beating Tarasov glove side.

Robinson scored 45 seconds later to make it 3-1 on a rebound in front, and Boqvist cut it to 3-2 at 6:57 of the second period when he roofed a shot short side from below the right circle.
Milano responded for the Capitals to make it 4-2 at 10:36. He skated in and dropped the puck to Nicklas Backstrom, who passed back to Milano for a tap-in at the right post.
Roslovic made it 4-3 with a power-play goal at 15:01, scoring with a one-timer that trickled through Lindgren's pads.
"We've been hit on the chin a lot this year, and it's something that will be good for us going down the road as to learning how to grind through that adversity," Roslovic said.
Jensen extended it to 5-3 at 19:52 with a shot glove side from the high slot.
Boqvist got Columbus to within 5-4 at 6:37 of the third period, scoring from the left circle off a pass from Lane Pederson from below the goal line.
Bemstrom then tied it 5-5 at 8:35 with a one-timer from the left circle.
Jensen put the Capitals back in front 6-5 at 15:24. He lifted in a backhand over Tarasov's right shoulder from below the left circle.
"We've got to win a hockey game," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "We scored six goals and we didn't. We have to put it away when it's 3-1 coming out to start the second period. We've got to put it away when it's 5-3. We've got to put it away when we scored to go up late. We weren't able to do any of those."

NOTES:Ovechkin has six 40-goal seasons since turning 30 years old, passing Phil Esposito for the most in NHL history. He is the fifth player in NHL history to score at least 40 goals at the age of 37 or older, joining Gordie Howe (40 years old in 1968-69), Johnny Bucyk (37 in 1972-73), Esposito (37 in 1978-79), and Brendan Shanahan (37 in 2005-06). … Gaudreau, Patrik Laine and Kent Johnson each had two assists. … Jenner has scored five goals in his past six games.