Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season and the 750th goal of his career early in the second period on Saturday, helping the Caps to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. In doing so, he scored against his 152nd different goaltender - rookie Daniil Tarasov, playing in his second NHL game - and notched the 118th game-winning goal of his NHL career, tying Phil Esposito for third place on the NHL's all-time list.
And although Ovechkin hadn't scored against the 22-year-old Tarasov previously, the Caps captain dropped some interesting knowledge in his postgame media availability. Asked whether he was at all familiar with Tarasov, who hails from Novokuznetsk, the same town that produced Dmitry Orlov and Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Ovechkin noted a familial connection with young Tarasov.
"No, I think I played against his father, back in Russia," says Ovechkin.
Born on the final day of 1976 in Kazakstan, Vadim Tarasov was a seventh-round choice (186th overall) of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1999 NHL Draft. He played one season in North America with the AHL Quebec Citadelles, and remained active in the KHL through the 2012-13 season, part of which Ovechkin played in that league because of the lockout in the NHL that season.
As of yet, there is no word on how many goals Ovechkin might have scored on the elder Tarasov.
Finishing up a fruitless four-game road trip, the Jackets were nevertheless a formidable foe on Saturday night. Although they spent a fair amount of the game in their own end, they got a strong performance from Tarasov, helping them to survive a number of lengthy Washington shifts in the offensive zone.
"Defensively. I thought were really strong," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "There was just a couple of [scoring] chances through two periods, and the third I don't think there was much more.
"In the offensive zone, we were able to get in there and we stayed in there, and were able to do things we want, get looks we wanted, and sometimes we shot ourselves in the foot by throwing the puck away. But for the most part, I thought it was pretty good offensively as well."
For the 17th time in 25 games this season, the Caps scored the game's first goal. Washington's rookie line of Beck Malentsyn, Aliaksei Protas and Brett Leason won a defensive zone draw and scored to give the Caps the lead 24 seconds later, doing so on its first shift of the night. Malenstyn and Leason combined to win a puck battle along the right half-wall in Columbus ice, eventually pushing it to Justin Schultz at the right point. Schultz's shot got hung up in traffic, and Protas pounced on it and fired, but Tarasov made the stop. Protas collected the rebound and put it to the shelf at 4:33.
Video: CBJ@WSH: Protas gets Capitals on the board
"The first objective was just to get it out of the [defensive] zone," says Malenstyn. "We were able to do that, and able to get in on the forecheck. And then a quick turnover, up to the [defenseman], and they were able to get it through. And then it was just a big man going to the net; Pro did a great job pf getting down there and burying that puck."
Early in the second period, Ovechkin doubled the Washington lead. John Carlson picked off a Columbus exit feed in neutral ice and quickly sent Ovechkin into Columbus ice down the right-wing wall in transition. From the right circle, Ovechkin beat Tarasov at 3:12 of the second, adding another red light victim to his lengthening list.
Video: CBJ@WSH: Ovechkin buries goal off rush
Columbus appeared to have pulled to within one less than a minute later, but a coach's challenge nullified Yegor Chinakhov's goal, showing Gregory Hoffman in the Washington zone well ahead of the puck.
Washington's second period was stellar the rest of the way. They held the Jackets without a shot for the first half of the middle period, and Columbus had only two shots on net in the period. The Caps were dominant in the offensive zone in the back half of the period, and they created a number of excellent scoring chances.
Tarasov made the save of the night in the final minute of the second, doing the splits to keep Connor McMichael from beating him through the five-hole in a 1-on-1 situation.
The Jackets were thoroughly stymied in the second, but they rallied a bit in the third. Early in the frame, they spoiled Ilya Samsonov's bid for a fourth shutout this season, getting a rush goal from Eric Robinson to make it a 2-1 game at 6:28.
Washington was diligent with its details in the third, getting pucks deep for the most part and defending well on a few occasions when they turned it over in neutral ice. With 1:27 remaining, Garnet Hathaway buried an empty-netter to give the Caps their 3-1 margin of victory.
"They played better there," says Jackets coach Brad Larsen of his team's final frame performance. "We had a good push there in the third. [Washington] doesn't you much. They are a big, heavy team and they were shutting everything down and getting out quick. They make you fight for your ice. They're playing good hockey, and we couldn't find our game there I in the first two periods. In the third, we found our legs a little bit."
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Caps Close Out Columbus, 3-1 - Washington Captials Web Site
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