Alex Ovechkin passed Brett Hull to move into fourth place all by himself on the NHL all-time goals list, and Conor Sheary scored the game-winner with 1:22 remaining in the third period as the visiting Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Friday night.
Sheary beat Joonas Korpisalo from the bottom of the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Dmitry Orlov.
Ovechkin’s first-period goal was the 742nd of his career and 12th of the season. Jaromir Jagr is third on the list with 766, and Wayne Gretzky leads with 894.
Garnet Hathaway scored his first two goals of the season for the Capitals, who have won three in a row after losing three straight. Lars Eller had two assists and Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.
Sean Kuraly scored his first two goals of the season for the Blue Jackets, who had won three straight. Gustav Nyquist also scored, and Korpisalo made 24 saves.
Kuraly, who grew up in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio, gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead when he knocked in a loose puck during a scramble in front of Samsonov at 2:33 of the first period.
Ovechkin scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle off a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov to tie it 1-1 at 10:19 of the period.
The Capitals took a 2-1 just 24 seconds into the second period when a Columbus clearing attempt was kept in the zone, and Hathaway completed a nice passing sequence when he scored from the slot.
After a Columbus turnover, Eller grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone, fed Hathaway behind the defense, and he beat Korpisalo high to the glove side at 7:23.
Kuraly went around defenseman John Carlson on the rush and scored to pull Columbus within 3-2 at 8:11 of the period.
Just 22 seconds later, Oliver Bjorkstrand sent Nyquist in alone and he beat Samsonov to tie it 3-3.
–Field Level Media
