Capitals Blast Blue Jackets, 7-2; Connor McMichael Scores Twice, Alex Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas Score Again

Nova Caps Fans

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals blitzed the Columbus Blue Jackets, 7-2, Saturday evening at Capital One Arena in the Washington. The victory improves the Capitals record to 8-2-0 on the season and ties a franchise record for most wins in first 10 games of a season.

The Capitals exploded for five goals in the first period. They wasted all of 56 seconds before denting the twine, with Aliaksei Protas finishing a beautiful give and go sequence with Dylan Strome for his fourth goal of the season. Just 46 seconds later Connor McMichael finished a solid rush with a far-side roof job to make it 2-0 and Andrew Mangiapane made it 3-0 a little over seven minutes into the game.

Alex Ovechkin got in on the action with his sixth goal of the season to make it 4-0 with a little over five minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Nic Dowd added to the total with his fourth goal of the season to make it 5-0 at the first intermission.

The Jackets responded just 49 second into the middle frame with a goal from Damon Severson (3) to make it 5-1, but Connor McMichael responded with his second goal of the game four minutes later to restore the Capitals five-goal lead. The Jackets added a late goal to make it 6-2 at the second intermission.

Dylan Strome added a late goal in the final frame for the 7-2 final.

LINEUP

Daniil Tarasov (3-1-1, 3.42 GAA, .886 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Blue Jackets. Logan Thompson (4-0-0, 3.21 GAA, .876 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana – Hendrix Lapierre – Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh

Martin Fehervary – John Carslon
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Rasmus Sandin – Dylan McIlrath

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratches: Sonny Milano, Mike Sgarbossa, Vincent Iorio, Matt Roy (injury) and Jakob Chychrun (injury).

1ST PERIOD

The Capitals opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the contest with Aliaksei Protas finishing a beautiful give and go sequence with Dylan Strome for his fourth goal of the season. Dylan Strome (11) and Alex Ovechkin (6) had the helpers.

this genuinely gets better with each watch pic.twitter.com/wOKGBiQIHD

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024

Just 46 seconds later Connor McMichael (6) finished a solid rush with a far-side roof job to make it 2-0. Rasmus Sandin (5) had the lone helper.

phewwwwwwww mikey pic.twitter.com/HPjJIoaNO9

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024

Andrew Mangiapane (3) made it 3-0 at 7:28 of the first frame. Jakub Vrana (2), Hendrix Lapierre (1) had the helpers.

some beautiful hockey being played right now, folks pic.twitter.com/aexy026OcB

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024

Alex Ovechkin (6) got in on the fun with his sixth goal of the season to make it 4-0 with a little over five minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Dylan Strome (12) had the lone assist.

the greatest goal scorer ever decided he wanted to get in on the scoring today pic.twitter.com/y2p3P6GBr6

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024

Nic Dowd (4) added to the total with his fourth goal of the season to make it 5-0. Trevor van Riemsdyk (7) and Brendon Duhaime (2) had the assists.

all four lines have a goal today pic.twitter.com/ztalslRl8e

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024

The period concluded with the Capitals leading 5-0.

2ND PERIOD

The Jackets responded just 49 second into the middle frame with a goal from Damon Severson (3) to make it 5-1. A. Fantilli (3) had the lone helper.

chippin’ away! @FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/bOxyIwTXpK

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 2, 2024

Connor McMichael (7) scored his second goal of the game at 4:51 of the middle frame to restore the Capitals five-goal lead. Tom Wilson (3) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (5) had the helpers.

Just searched things hotter than the surface of the sun and Connor McMichael’s name came up pic.twitter.com/FqecYWrKNa

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 2, 2024

The Jackets got one back on a gritty goal from Kevin Lebanc (1) at 14:36. Z. Aston-Reese (2) had the lone helper.

After much debate, this goal’s been awarded to Labanc!@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/vxHwMIynny

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 2, 2024

The middle frame concluded with the Capitals leading, 6-2.

3RD PERIOD

Dylan Strome added a goal late in the third period for the 7-2 final.

They will be in action action on Sunday when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes. Puck drop is set for 5PM.

SHAVINGS (From Capitals PR)

Aliaksei Protas scored his fourth goal of the season 56 seconds into the game to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Protas has scored a goal in three-straight games and has established a new career long goal streak.
Protas has recorded six points (3g-3a–6p) in his last three games.
Dylan Strome recorded the primary assist on the Capitals’ first goal. Strome leads the Capitals in assists (11) and points (14) this season and has recorded at least one point in nine of Washington’s 10 games.
Alex Ovechkin was credited with the secondary assist on Protas’ game-opening goal, his sixth assist of the season. Ovechkin has registered five points (3g, 2a) in his last five games against the Blue Jackets dating back to the 2022-23 season.
Connor McMichael scored his sixth goal of the season and extends his goal and point streaks to three games (3g-0a–3p). McMichael has now scored five goals in his last five games.
Rasmus Sandin tallied his fifth assist of the season on McMichael’s goal. Sandin has now registered five assists in his last five games dating back to Oct. 23.
Andrew Mangiapane scores his third goal of the season to put the Capitals ahead 3-0. Mangiapane has recorded nine points (4g, 5a) in 11 career games against Columbus.
Hendrix Lapierre earned his first assist and point of the season on Mangiapane’s goal. Lapierre, 22, set single-season career highs in goals (8), assists(14), points (22) and games played (51) in 2023-24.
Alex Ovechkin scores his sixth goal of the season and the 859th of his career to put the Capitals ahead 4-0 in the first period.
Ovechkin extends his goal and point streaks to three games (4g-3a–7p). Ovechkin, who has recorded 12 points (6g, 6a) in 10 games this season, is 36 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (894g) for the most goals in NHL history.
Connor McMichael scored his second goal of the game and team-leading seventh goal of the season. McMichael, who set career highs in goals, assists, and points in 2023-24 (18g-15a–33p in 80 GP), has recorded 12 points (7g, 5a) in 10 games this season.
Pierre-Luc Dubois was credited with the secondary assist on the Capitals’ sixth goal. Dubois, who was drafted third overall by Columbus in the 2016 NHL Draft, has recorded five points (3g, 2a) in seven career games against the Blue Jackets.
The Capitals have tied the franchise record for most wins through the first 10 games of a season.
The Capitals have a 6-1-0 record at home this season and have outscored the opposition 34-20 at Capital One Arena.
Washington’s current six-game home winning streak marks the first time they have won six consecutive home games since 2018 (2/24/18-3/28/18: 7-0-0), a seven-game streak that included the NHL Stadium Series game played at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
The Capitals blocked a season-high 30 shots tonight against Columbus. It marks just the seventh time that Washington has blocked thirty or more shots in a single game since the NHL began tracking in 2005-06.