National Hockey League
Washington 3, Columbus 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 4, 2021
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Referees: Dean Morton, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Libor Suchanek
Attendance: 18573

Alex Ovechkin scored his milestone 750th National Hockey League goal as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 Saturday night.

Aliaksei Protas and Garnet Hathaway also scored for the Capitals, who improved to 4-1-1 in their past six games. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 17 saves.

Eric Robinson scored for Columbus, which lost all four games on its road trip and was outscored 18-6. Goalie Daniil Tarasov, making his second career start with Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo ailing, stopped 29 of 31 shots.

Ovechkin's milestone came at 3:12 of the second period on a three-on-two rush. The 36-year-old Russian took a pass from defenseman John Carlson in the neutral zone, skated over the blue line on the right wing, and put a wrist shot from just outside the faceoff dot past countryman Tarasov and inside the far post, giving the Capitals a 2-0 lead.

Ovechkin is just the fourth player to reach 750 career goals, joining Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801) and Jaromir Jagr (766).

Protas gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 4:33 of the first period, tracking down the rebound of Justin Schultz's shot from the right point and lifting it over Tarasov.

Columbus' Yegor Chinakhov appeared to have trimmed the deficit to 2-1 about a minute after Ovechkin's goal, but it was disallowed after video review determined the play was offside.

The Capitals, who had blown third-period leads in each of their previous three games, losses in regulation and in a shootout, held on this time.

The Blue Jackets finally got on the board at 6:28 of the third as Justin Danforth skated down the left wing on a two-on-one break and fed a pass across the top of the crease to Robinson, who tapped the puck into the open side of the net.

Hathaway clinched the victory with an empty-net goal with 1:27 remaining.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Columbus   Washington
Eric Robinson 1 Points Garnet Hathaway 1
Eric Robinson 1 Goals Garnet Hathaway 1
Justin Danforth 1 Assists John Carlson 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Daniil Tarasov .935 Save Percentage Ilya Samsonov .944
Daniil Tarasov 29 Saves Ilya Samsonov 17
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Columbus 18 1 0-0 1-1 2 29
Washington 32 3 0-1 0-0 0 15
Upcoming Games
  • Washington will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Capitals have a W/L % of .533 after a win and .700 after a loss.
  • Columbus will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .600 after a loss.