Capitals bring tight-game expertise to Columbus

The Washington Capitals, coming off consecutive extra-time wins, will look for a third straight victory when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

The Capitals, who have earned points in six of their past seven games (4-1-2), earned a 3-2 overtime win against the visiting New York Islanders on Wednesday. Dylan Strome scored a power-play goal 1:41 into the extra session to end it after the Islanders tied the contest midway through the third period.

"We may not score the most goals right now, or this season so far, but we're finding ways to win tight games," Strome said after Washington improved to 9-1-4 in one-goal games. "I think it's a good look on us when we can win these 2-1, 3-2, 1-0 type games."

The 26-year-old forward, who leads Washington in goals (13) and points (19), salvaged a night when he was on the ice for both New York goals.

"I didn't have a great game today," Strome said. "Thought I didn't have too many good looks. Obviously minus-2 is not great, but I found a way to get it done. Nice to get some momentum on the power play. I think three of our last four games we've got a power-play goal, so it's helping us a little bit."

Strome is riding a five-game point streak (three goals, three assists).

Hendrix Lapierre had a goal and an assist against the Islanders, and Joel Edmundson scored his first goal for the Capitals. Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves to earn the win.

Alex Ovechkin assisted on Strome's game winner but saw his career-worst streak of games without a goal increase to 14.

The Blue Jackets come home after posting a season-high goal total in a 9-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

Kirill Marchenko scored a natural hat trick, Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists and Daniil Tarasov made 25 saves in the victory.

Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said of Marchenko, "He's got skills, he's got size, and he's got a great personality. He's loved in the dressing room, he's starting to talk more. He brings people together. That's what he does best. And he's a good hockey player, obviously."

Marchenko has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past five games.

"When we play all together, it's easy," Marchenko said of his all-Russian line with Yegor Chinakhov and Dmitri Voronkov. "We have more confidence, we want to score more goals and just do next step, think about next step."

Gaudreau notched his first three-point game — and fifth multi-point effort — of the season while stretching his points streak to three games (two goals, three assists).

After losing three in a row in early December, the Blue Jackets have alternated wins and losses over their past six games.

Columbus has scored 18 goals over the past three games, matching the club record for a three-game span. The Blue Jackets also scored 18 goals in three contests from Feb. 17-22, 2022.

The teams are meeting for the third time and final time this season, the first time in Columbus. The Capitals won 2-1 on Nov. 4 behind Charlie Lindgren's 34 saves. Washington prevailed 4-3 on Nov. 18 thanks to three unanswered goals in the second period, including one by Ovechkin, which was the last time he scored.

—Field Level Media