Holtby steps up as Capitals edge Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Washington Capitals scored three second-period goals and solidified their grip on the Metropolitan Division lead with a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night at Nationwide Arena.
Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby finished with 35 saves and posted his 41st victory to tie Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for the league lead.
Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist, T.J. Oshie produced his 33rd goal of the season and Matt Niskanen added a goal for the Capitals (52-18-8). Nicklas Backstrom contributed an assist for his 17th point in the past 11 games.
The Capitals hold a five-point lead in the Metropolitan Division and atop the Eastern Conference standings over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who moved past the Blue Jackets (49-21-8) into the second place with a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Each of the top three teams have four games remaining in the regular season. The Blue Jackets travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Tuesday night.
Down 3-0, the Blue Jackets fought back in the third period. Jack Johnson scored the first Columbus goal at 9:22 of the third period to end Holtby's shutout bid and Kyle Quincy made it 3-2 with his sixth goal of the season with a shot from inside the blue line with 4:27 remaining.
But the Blue Jackets left the puck on the doorstop with 1:01 left during a scrum in front of the Capitals' net and Washington held on in the intensely played game.
Bobrovsky finished with 27 saves.
Oshie broke through against Bobrovsky early in the second period. The Capitals right winger skated in front of the crease and lifted a backhander past the goalie's blocker at 1:12.
Less than two minutes later, the Capitals opened a 2-0 lead when Lars Eller centered a pass from behind the net and Burakovsky went top shelf to make it 2-0 at 2:56 of the second period.
Niskanen's fifth goal of the season boosted the Capitals' lead to 3-0 at 10:05 of the second.
The Capitals nearly opened a four-goal lead in the second, but Bobrovsky made a glove save on a shot from a wide-open Alex Ovechkin with 3:34 left in the period.
Bobrovsky kept the game scoreless in the first period with some huge saves. He stopped a point shot by Brooks Orpik with 4:40 remaining and made a pad save on Oshie with 3:43 left.
The best save of the period came with 1:32 left when Justin Williams skated in after a Blue Jackets turnover, but his shot from the slot was denied by a Bobrovsky glove save.
The Capitals outshot the Blue Jackets 24-20 through two periods. Columbus' struggles continued on the power play, coming up empty on two chances in the first 20 minutes.
NOTES: Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky was named the NHL's second star for March. He posted a 9-1-1 record with a .967 save percentage, 1.09 goals-against average and four shutouts during the month. ... In the previous nine games before Sunday, the Blue Jackets were 0 of 17 on the power play. ... The Capitals' 6-3 loss at Arizona on Friday night snapped a six-game win streak and eight-game points streak. ... Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom leads the NHL in points since Jan. 1. ... Washington F Alex Ovechkin is two goals from tying Guy Lafleur (560) for 25th place on the NHL list. ... Blue Jackets C Lukas Sedlak sustained an upper-body injury in the second period on Friday night at Chicago and was scratched against the Capitals.