It’s a Christmas miracle, Alex Ovechkin’s 14-game goalless drought is no more! He scored in the most dramatic fashion possible last night, getting the overtime game-winner on the power play. Fun fact: including playoff tallies, this was the 900th goal of his career. Despite going to overtime for the second night in a row, the Washington Capitals were able to hold the cannon to two booms and leave Columbus with two points.
Three Takeaways:
- John Carlson very quietly recorded three assists last night, which was his 12th career game with 3+ assists. It was the second-straight game in which he had an assist on an OTGWG, dishing helpers on both Ovechkin’s goal last night and Dylan Strome’s OT tally on Wednesday night. Yesterday also brings Carlson to 499 career assists—that’s good for third-best in franchise history, behind some guys named Nicklas Backstrom (762) and Alex Ovechkin (677).
- With last night’s win, Charlie Lindgren has a sweep of the season series with the Blue Jackets. The Caps and Jackets played each other twice in November, both at Capital One Arena, and Lindgren recorded both of those wins as well. In those three starts, Lindgren went 3-0-0 with a 1.96 GAA and a .944 SV%. Not bad, Chuck, not bad.
- Whatever was happening between Tom Wilson and Elvis Merzlikins last night was…bizarre. Merzlikins appeared to be upset with Wilson all game, and it escalated to quite the scuffle in overtime that resulted in the Caps’ power play that Ovi ultimately scored on. Merzlikins is lucky he only got called for a two minute roughing minor, because he definitely landed a few punches with his blocker. He spoke to Columbus media after the game and explained why he got so upset—he said that Wilson was going after him all game and that his emotional reaction got the best of him. There is video of all the instances Elvis referred to, and it’s a little difficult to see any of what he was talking about. What do you think about all of this, Caps fans?
They Said It: