It was a tremendous night at the rink for the Caps as they celebrated their legendary captain Alex Ovechkin. Could the Caps get the game part of the festivities over the line though?
Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring because of course he did. TJ Oshie deflected home the second marker of the game. Conor Sheary potted the Caps’ third in the first period. Eric Robinson got one back for Columbus.
Adam Boqvist absolutely sniped the Blue Jackets into just a one-goal deficit. Sonny Milano burned his former team to put the Caps back up two. Jack Roslovic responded for the Blooj. Nick Jensen in the McNugget Minute.
Boqvist got his second of the night with another bullet. Emil Bemstrom tied it all up. Nick Jensen with a sweet backhand to restore the lead. Boone Jenner tied it back up with the netminder pulled. Roslovic wins it in overtime.
Blue Jackets beat Caps 7-6.
- What an absolutely awesome pregame ceremony. The Caps know how to do these things right. And, so does Alex Ovechkin. He opened the scoring, on accident, but that’s just what a good goal scorer does. The goal was Ovi’s 40th goal of the season, marking his 13th career 40-goal season which sees him pass Wayne Gretzky (12) for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history.
- Dylan Strome is absolutely red hot. He now has 16 points (6g, 10a) in his last 12 games. It appears that new top line made up of Ovi, Strome, and Tom Wilson could work very well.
- Rasmus Sandin with another incredibly impressive setup on Conor Sheary‘s first-period strike. Sandin now has 11 assists in nine games since being dealt to DC.
- Head coach Peter Laviolette promised a better start in this game. He sure got one. The Caps put three past Daniil Tarasov before Columbus seemed to know what hit them.
🍷🍷🍷 pic.twitter.com/MupiHtnipH
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) March 21, 2023
- The first half of the second was not good. It was like the old first-period Caps came back out and it was all Columbus for a good bit. They got it together in the back half and left still with their two-goal lead.
- What a beautiful give-and-go from Sonny Milano and Nicklas Backstrom. That was some vintage Backstrom on that play.
- Haven’t loved Charlie Lindgren‘s play of late. Some absolute snipes past him in this game but a couple he probably would want back too. At the same time though…the Caps’ defense has been absolutely awful for long stretches of games.
- What in the world was that third period?
Gr802 Night #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/soU1VsFaK1
— RMNB (@rmnb) March 21, 2023
The Chicago Blackhawks will be in town next on Thursday. It will likely be John Carlson’s first game back in the lineup.
Full Coverage of Alex Ovechkin’s Gr802 Night
Headline photo courtesy of kurly
