Washington Capitals Crush Utah, 6-2, Sweep Road Trip; Alex Ovechkin Ties NHL-Record For Most Goalies Scored Against, Tallies Fifth Goal In Two Games, Leaves Third Period Due To Injury


Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals defeated the Utah Hockey Club by a score of 6-2 on Monday night in their first visit to Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Washington, who is 4-0-1 during a five-game point-streak and swept their three-game Western Conference road trip, improved to 13-4-1 (.750 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves in the win.

Washington leaped a point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (who have one game in hand) and New Jersey Devils (Washington has three) for first place in the Metropolitan Division. They also extended their lead by four over the New York Rangers (who have two) for third.

Washington’s Lines

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

Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
Martin Fehervary – Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Lindgren
Logan Thompson

  • Scratched
    • C Hendrix Lapierre
    • D Dylan McIlrath
    • D Alexander Alexeyev
  • Injured
    • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
    • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
    • RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Utah’s Lines

Clayton Keller – Nick Bjugstad – Nick Schmaltz
Alexander Kerfoot – Barrett Hayton – Lawson Crouse
Matias Maccelli – Logan Cooley – Dylan Guenther
Jack McBain – Kevin Stenlund – Michael Carcone

Mikhail Sergachev – Olli Maatta
Jusso Valimaki – Michael Kesselring
Ian Cole – Maveric Lamoureux

Connor Ingram
Karel Vejmelka

  • Scratched
    • LW Liam O’Brien
    • D Robert Bortuzzo
    • D Vladislav Kolyachonok
  • Injured
    • D Sean Durzi (upper-body)
    • D John Marino (upper-body)

First Period

Scoring

  • 3:05, 1-0 Utah: McBain slammed the first goal in at the door step after Van Riemsdyk’s right skate got in the way of Stenlund’s wrist shot from out high and Utah cycled the puck around the offensive zone.
  • 7:46, 1-1: After Strome caught Lamoureux‘s pass in the slot, he deked around Carcone to get behind the goal-line and threw the puck in off of Ingram’s left pad. Strome has recorded at least a point in 16 of Washington’s 18 games.
  • 7:56, 2-1 Washington: Duhaime pressed in Utah’s side of the red line off of the next faceoff, got the puck off, streaked down the left wing, and fed Dowd at the right post. Dowd buried one over the right pad of Ingram.
  • 11:05, 3-1: Ovechkin ripped a wrist shot over the glove of Ingram in the slot after Dubois forced Sergachev into a turnover along the half-wall and fed Ovechkin above the left dot. Ovechkin tied Jaromir Jagr (178) for the most goalies scored on in NHL history after striking against Ingram. The goal was the 39-year-old’s league-leading 14th of the season. The period marked Washington’s 10th with at least three goals this season.
  • At 19:28, Carlson stopped a pass by Dubois on the backhand from below the goal line and slapped one over the netminder’s glove but the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference with McMichael and Valimaki going at it for positioning in front of Ingram.

Stats

  • 12-8 Utah in shots
  • .611 Utah on faceoffs
  • Utah failed to score on three power plays
    • Washington did not score on their first
  • 5-3 Washington in hits
  • 8-4 Washington in blocked shots
  • 4-4 in giveaways
  • 2-1 Washington in takeaways
Graphics: Natural StatTrick

Second Period

Scoring

  • 5:38, 4-1 (PPG): Ovechkin blasted one under the blocker of Ingram from the left dot after Strome turned around and pushed the puck to Carlson, who set up Ovechkin, at the top after winning the faceoff. Ovechkin has scored five goals in his last five periods and 868 in his NHL career. Vejmelka came in after Ingram allowed four goals on just 13 shots (.692 save percentage). Ovechkin is the first player in NHL history with 100 career multi-goal road games. Ovechkin recorded his fourth multi-goal game of the season and the 177th of his career. Ovechkin is the first player in NHL history age 39 or older to be the League’s first skater to 15 goals in a season. Prior to Ovechkin, the oldest player was Frank Mahovlich (33y, 304d on Nov. 10, 1971). Carlson has tallied an assist in three-straight games. Eight of Carlson’s 12 assists this season have been primaries. Strome has notched his ninth multi-point game of the season.
  • 11:44, 4-2: Bjugstad batted the puck in out of mid-air behind Lindgren after Lindgren turned aside Schmaltz’s blast from the right dot and Keller set him up from the half-wall.

Stats

  • 19-18 Utah in shots
    • 10-8 Washington in the second
  • .514 Washington on faceoffs
  • Washington struck once on three power plays
    • Utah did not score on six
  • 11-7 Washington in hits
  • 12-5 Washington in blocked shots
  • 9-7 Utah in giveaways
  • 5-3 Washington in takeaways

Third Period

  • Ovechkin left the game after getting struck in his right ankle by McBain’s skate with 14:35 to go.

Scoring

  • 7:30, 5-2: Duhaime flew into the offensive zone and put one under the bar from the left side of the goal-line. With a goal and an assist tonight, Duhaime has registered his first multi-point game as a Capital and the fourth of his career. With the secondary assist, Eller recorded his first assist with Washington since January 31, 2023.
  • 9:56, 6-2: Protas wristed one through the five-hole from the right dot after flying down the wing. Protas has established a new single-season career high in goals with his seventh of the year (previously 2023-24: six in 78 games). The Capitals have scored six or more goals in six of their first 18 games this season. Last season, Washington scored six goals in five of their 82 games.
  • With 3:09 left, Wilson took McBain down as the two tangled after McBain clipped Ovechkin.

Stats

  • 26-24 Utah
    • including 7-6 in the third
  • .526 Utah on faceoffs
  • Washington finished with a goal on three power plays
    • Utah did not score on seven
  • 14-10 Washington in hits
  • 21-6 Washington in blocked shots
  • 16-10 Utah in giveaways
  • 9-6 Utah in takeaways

 

Next game: Thursday vs. Colorado Avalanche (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077





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