Capitals end Blue Jackets' win streak at 16
WASHINGTON -- Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the Washington Capitals got goals from five different players as they defeated Columbus 5-0 on Thursday to snap the Blue Jackets 16-game winning streak.
Columbus failed in its attempt to match the NHL record of 17 straight victories, established in 1993 by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blue Jackets (27-6-4) hadn't lost since Nov. 26, when they were defeated in a shootout by the Florida Panthers.
Washington (24-9-5) took a 1-0 lead just over five minutes in and never looked back, getting a goal and an assist apiece from defensemen John Carlson and Nate Schmidt. Daniel Winnik, Andre Burakovsky and Justin Williams also scored, and Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists.
Williams made it 5-0 at 5:36 of the third when he fired over Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's shoulder from a tough angle for his 11th goal. Bobrovsky, who allowed five goals on 23 shots while looking to extend his personal winning streak to 15 games, was then lifted in favor of Curtis McElhinney.
The Capitals won their fourth straight and are 11-2-2 over their last 15 games. They moved within five points of first-place Columbus in the Metropolitan Division.
Holtby bounced back from being pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots against Toronto on Tuesday to pick up his 27th career shutout.
The Blue Jackets league-leading power-play unit was 0 for 5.
Columbus, which won the first two meetings this season before the streak began, outshot Washington 11-6 in the first period, but couldn't get one past Holtby.
The Capitals broke on top at 5:06 of the period when Bobrovsky made a save on Jay Beagle in front, but Winnik came in to Bobrovsky's left and banged the loose puck high into the net for his sixth of the season.
Washington made it 2-0 midway through the period. Kuznetsov skated down the left side and dropped the puck back to Marcus Johansson. Johansson fired a centering pass that caromed off the streaking Carlson's skate and past Bobrovsky.
It was the first time Columbus trailed by two goal during the winning streak.
Early in the second, Holtby stonewalled Markus Nutivaara who was suddenly alone about 10 feet away, and stopped Nutivaara on the rebound as well.
The Capitals made it 3-0 at 7:28 of the second period. Bobrovsky made the initial save on Schmidt's shot from the top of the right circle, but Schmidt scored on the rebound. It was his first goal since Jan. 7, 2016 -- a span of 67 games.
Burakovsky made it 4-0 with 3:33 left in the second when his shot, off a pass from Carlson, deflected off Bobrovsky and in. The goal survived a Columbus challenge that the Capitals entered the zone offside.
NOTES: The Blue Jackets are tied for the league lead (with the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers) with four players with 30 or more points. ... Columbus is the only team to rank in the top three in goals for (second) and goals against (third). ... G Sergei Bobrovsky played his 300th NHL game. ... Blue Jackets scratches were LW Marcus Hannikainen, D Dalton Prout and D Scott Harrington. ... Following his overtime tally Tuesday night, Washington winger Alex Ovechkin is tied with Jaromir Jagr (19) for first place in NHL history in overtime goals and tied with Steve Yzerman (94) for 10th place in game-winning goals. ... D Taylor Chorney was scratched for Washington.