WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson each scored two goals, and the Washington Capitals beat Columbus 4-2 on Tuesday night to extend the Blue Jackets’ losing streak to nine games.
Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots, and Nicklas Backstrom and Andre Burakovsky had two assists apiece to help the Capitals win their third straight.
After Johansson gave Washington the lead for good with 66 seconds elapsed, Ovechkin scored twice during a nine-minute span of the first period to make it 3-1.
It was a one-goal game before Johansson scored on a wraparound at 14:39 of the third period.
Cam Atkinson and David Savard scored for the injury-plagued Blue Jackets, 0-8-1 since Oct. 23. They have been outscored 39-18 over that span.
The nine-game skid equals the longest in franchise history; Columbus went 0-7-2 from Dec. 10-26, 2009.
The Blue Jackets played a seventh straight game without top goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who has a broken finger. Curtis McElhinney started in his place and was pelted with 31 shots in falling to 0-5-1.
Columbus was without injured forwards Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu. In addition, defenseman Jack Johnson completed a three-game suspension for an illegal check.
After being outscored 4-0 in the first period of their last game, a 7-4 loss to Tampa Bay, the Blue Jackets again struggled during the opening 20 minutes.
Soon after Johansson scored his seventh goal of the season from the left side of the net, the Capitals went to a 5-on-3 power play. Ovechkin connected from the left circle with a shot that soared over McElhinney’s right shoulder at 7:49.
Columbus closed to 2-1 at 9:52 on a wrist shot by Atkinson off a faceoff in the Washington zone.
But Ovechkin struck again at 16:04, taking a drop pass from Jay Beagle and beating McElhinney with a blast between the circles for his eighth goal.
The Blue Jackets have been outscored 18-10 in the first period this season.
Savard scored the lone goal of the second period with a shot that Holtby kicked into the net with the back of his skate during a collision with a teammate and Columbus center Boone Jenner.
Notes: Washington has won four straight at home against Columbus. … The Blue Jackets are 1-7-1 when the opposition scores first. … Backstrom has 11 points in his last six games. Ovechkin has 10 points over that span. … The Capitals have seven power-play goals in their last seven games.
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