Capitals at Blue Jackets
Captain Alex Ovechkin will reach one milestone and is closing in on another major mark when his Washington Capitals visit the Metropolitan Division-rival Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Ovechkin is slated to play his 984th game in a Capitals uniform, moving ahead of Calle Johansson for the franchise lead, and his two goals in Saturday's 5-1 win over Buffalo pulled him within four of 600 for his career.
“I’m getting old, you know?” Ovechkin told reporters. “Soon it’s going to be 1,000. That’s a pretty big number for games. I’m pretty happy to reach that milestone with one organization. It’s pretty cool.” Washington has posted six straight wins against Columbus - three this season, including two this month - and the Blue Jackets may be starting to turn things around after posting two victories in their last three games. Columbus edged Chicago 3-2 at home on Saturday behind a 31-save performance by Sergei Bobrovsky and has a two-point lead in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. “Everybody contributed and (Bobrovsky) was amazing for us again,” Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois told reporters on Saturday. “It feels good to get a win like that.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, NBCS Washington, FS Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (35-20-7): Ovechkin has scored four of his league-leading 38 goals in his last four games and registered 25 shots in the last three while topping the team with 70 points. Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded a goal and three assists on Saturday, pushing his point total to 59, while defenseman John Carlson has notched four of his 49 points - six shy of the career high he set in 2014-15 - in his last four contests. Lars Eller has scored a goal in three straight games to pull within one of 100 for his career, but T.J. Oshie has gone 12 contests without a tally.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (31-26-5): Bobrovsky seems to have regained his mojo in net, allowing fewer than three goals in six of his last seven outings, and Columbus has limited opponents to 26.7 shots per game in his appearances this month. Artemi Panarin has collected two goals and two assists over his last four games to lead the team with 50 points - the third time he has reached that mark to open his career. Mark Letestu (eight goals, 19 points) was acquired from Nashville on Sunday in a three-team trade that also involved Edmonton while the Blue Jackets surrendered a 2018 fourth-round draft pick.
OVERTIME
1. The Blue Jackets have gone 1-for-10 on the power play over their last six games and rank 30th in the league at 14.6 percent.
2. Washington G Braden Holtby has posted an .861 save percentage over his last five contests but is 14-3-2 lifetime versus the Blue Jackets.
3. Columbus D Seth Jones snapped his six-game point drought on Saturday and is second on the team with 37.