In Columbus, Conor Sheary scored with 82 seconds left in the third period on Friday night, to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 lead they would hold for a win over the Blue Jackets.
The goal came after Columbus had rallied back from a 1-3 deficit with two goals in 22 seconds near the midway point of the final frame.
“Great battle,” the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin (goal) said. “Again, I don’t think we [had] a very good start but we keep playing the same way, playing our game and getting a result.”
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves in the Caps win.
Sean Kuraly scored twice for Columbus.
“It was a fun one,” Kuraly said. “Tough to see it end that way. That’s a good team and it [stinks] to come out with no points in a game where you feel like you are right there at the end. We expect our team to battle back. We’ve got what we need to play with any team.”
Kuraly and Gustav Nyquist scored in the 22 second outburst in the third period to tie the game.
“We have been doing that all year long. We don’t quit on this team,” Nyquist said. “To be down is not a recipe for success. It’s not something we are trying to be down. It’s good to come back and it was a pretty even third.”
Garnet Hathaway hit for two goals for Washington.
“I thought we came on, played really good from the start and got the lead,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “And then we just made a couple of mistakes that we typically haven’t made, and all of a sudden they gained some momentum and then they were pressing, and they hit the post a couple of times and the second period got away from us.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 24 saves in the Blue Jackets loss.
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