Capitals 4, Blue Jackets 1
WASHINGTON -- Tom Wilson scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Braden Holtby stopped 21 shots and the Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Monday night, clinching the Presidents' Trophy and home ice throughout the playoffs.
Justin Williams, T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for Washington (54-16-5), which also equaled the franchise mark for regular-season wins.
Wilson's goal came at 3:46 of the third period after Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky moved to his left to make a save on Mike Richards. Wilson, moving to Bobrovsky's right, corralled the rebound and back-handed the puck into the open net for his seventh goal.
Oshie provided some insurance with 5:34 left when he deflected Matt Niskanen's shot from the point during Washington's fifth power play of the night, and Backstrom added an empty-netter.
Cam Atkinson scored his 27th goal of the season for Columbus (30-38-8), which has lost three straight and eight of 11.
It's Washington's first Presidents' Trophy since 2009-10, when it were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Montreal.
The Caps are now 15-0-1 in games immediately following regulation losses this season, the only team without back-to-back regulation defeats.
Bobrovsky finished with 34 saves.
Washington hadn't scored a five-on-five goal in its past two games, but ended that skid late in the first period.
Bobrovsky made the initial save on a slapper by John Carlson, but the rebound went right to Williams, who fired it home for his 22nd of the season with 3:30 left in the period.
The lead lasted less than two minutes.
Rene Bourque of Columbus deflected a clearing attempt by Washington's Dmitri Orlov and the puck was ultimately controlled by Atkinson near the left circle. He beat Holtby with 1:54 left before intermission.
Washington was unable to cash in on a pair of power plays during a scoreless second period.
NOTES: Capitals RW T.J. Oshie (flu) returned after missing two games. ... Washington G Braden Holtby has 46 wins this season, two behind the NHL single-season record set by New Jersey's Martin Brodeur in 2006-07. ... Washington scratched D Taylor Chorney, D Mike Weber, C Michael Latta and RW Stanislav Galiev. ... Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky came in needing one win to surpass Steve Mason (96) for the franchise record. ... Columbus RW David Clarkson (lower body injury) missed his seventh game, and D Fedor Tyutin (lower body) sat out his second. RW Jared Boll was scratched.