Ovechkin extends point streak to 11, Capitals top Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS --Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games, and Braden Holtby made 28 saves for the Washington Capitals in a 4-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Holtby has two shutouts this season and 34 in nine seasons for the Capitals (17-9-3), who are 9-2-0 in the past 11 games. He credited Washington's forechecking for limiting Columbus to 10 scoring chances.
"Our team knows you can't play a soft game against them because they'll turn it the other way quick," Holtby said.
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Cam Atkinson's NHL career-high 12-game point streak ended one game shy of the Blue Jackets record set by Ryan Johansen from Dec. 18, 2014, to Jan. 17, 2015.
Brett Connolly, Dmitrij Jaskin and Travis Boyd also scored for the Capitals, who increased their lead in the Metropolitan Division to three points over the Blue Jackets (16-11-2).
"They played the right way," Columbus forward Nick Foligno said. "We were flat in the first and got caught watching. When they get the lead, they know how to win. They do the simple things. They make it hard on you. They make you go through five guys."

Connolly gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with his fifth goal at 1:42 of the first period. Jakub Vrana's stretch pass sent Connolly alone on the right wing, and he skated around the net and pushed a backhand past Sergei Bobrovsky.
"The way the game is now the first goal doesn't mean as much as it used to, but it does a lot for momentum and makes you play looser, a little freer," Holtby said
Jaskin made it 2-0 at 10:19 with a deflection of a Boyd shot for his first goal for Washington. Jaskin was claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 2.
Ovechkin scored on a redirect from Michal Kempny with 19 seconds left in the first to make it 3-0.
Ovechkin has 10 goals and six assists during his streak, which is two shy of his NHL-best 13-game streak from Jan. 1-Feb. 1, 2007.
Boyd's first NHL goal in his 21st game increased the lead to 4-0 at 11:04 of the third period. Ovechkin had the primary assist.
"He feeds me a beautiful pass. I had a wide-open net for my first goal," Boyd said. "It was pretty cool. Obviously a night I'll always remember."
The fourth line of Jaskin, Boyd and Nic Dowd had two goals and two assists.

"It was a great team effort," Jaskin said. "Everybody was on the same page and knew what we wanted to do. The result speaks for itself."
Bobrovsky allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period before being pulled. Joonas Korpisalo made 14 saves in relief.
"I was not going to have [Bobrovsky] eat more goals the way we were playing in front of him," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.

They said it

"We know this is one of the better forechecking teams in the League. We had a pretty good plan to go back for pucks. We were able to execute because they're so aggressive on the forecheck [and] you can take advantage of the odd-man rushes, and we did tonight." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden
"They pressure hard, they come hard. If you're not on your game in your D zone you're going to be hemmed in for a while. I thought our wingers especially did a great job along the walls tonight, created a lot of odd-man rushes that way. That was the key to our success."-- Capitals goalie Braden Holtby
"I'm not going to dissect our problems right now, tonight." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Washington has scored at least four goals in eight of the past 10 games. … Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov had an assist and has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games. … Capitals forward Tom Wilson missed his second straight game with a concussion. … Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones had his five-game point streak end. … Blue Jackets assistant coach Brad Shaw returned to the bench after missing a 4-3 overtime win Thursday at the Philadelphia Flyers while hospitalized two nights for an abdominal issue.

What's next

Capitals:Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, SNP, NHL.TV)