Washington Capitals' Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets with Alex Ovechkin (8), Conor Sheary (73), Dylan Strome (17) and John Carlson (74) during second period NHL action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
WINNIPEG – Lars Eller scored one of Washington’s four second-period goals in his 900th career game to help the Capitals down the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Sunday.
Trevor van Riemsdyk, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marcus Johansson and Alex Ovechkin into an empty net, also scored for the Capitals (14-12-4), who extended their season-high win streak to four games. Dmitry Orlov added two assists.
Charlie Lindgren has been in net for all four victories, making 29 saves against the Jets.
Adam Lowry and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets (18-8-1), who had a season-best four-game victory run halted.
Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for Winnipeg.
Both goalies didn’t let a puck get by them in the first period.
Hellebuyck was kept busy in the game’s first eight minutes as the Capitals were outshooting the Jets 8-1. The barrage included Ovechkin being left standing in front of the crease in the first minute, but he couldn’t put a bouncing puck past the netminder.
Lindgren was tested with a close-in Dubois shot with nine minutes left in the opening period. It was one of nine straight shots the Jets fired at the goalie, including on the period’s only power play.
Shots ended up 10-9 in Winnipeg’s favour after the first.
Washington then mounted a 4-0 lead in the second period.
Van Riemsdyk’s high wrist shot from the slot beat Hellebuyck at 3:25 of the second, followed by Kuznetsov’s power-play marker at 8:21.
The Capitals had a 57-second five-on-three, but Kuznetsov recorded his fourth goal of the season with 21 seconds remaining in the man advantage. He extended his point streak to five games with six assists during that span.
Johansson added his goal on a penalty shot at 9:55 after Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey slashed him on a breakaway. Johansson weaved his way toward Hellebuyck and sent a backhand shot past the netminder on the glove side.
Eller boosted the score to 4-0 with his sixth goal of the season off a rebound at 15:24.
Winnipeg came out fast in the third, with Lowry scoring off a rebound of Morrissey’s point shot 35 seconds into the period.
Dubois made it 4-2 when he stretched out to shoot the puck past Lindgren and recorded his 14th goal at 3:29.
After Hellebuyck was pulled with 3:40 left, Ovechkin went wide on his first attempt to hit the empty net, but was good on his second with 2:12 left. He sits at 797 career goals.
FINE DANISH
Eller has played 458 of his 900 NHL career games with Washington. He also suited up for 435 games with Montreal and seven for St. Louis.
The 33-year-old has recorded 360 points during those career games, including 159 goals and 201 assists.
The Denmark native is now two points shy of passing injured Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers (361 points) for second on the all-time Danish points list.
NOTES: The Capitals are 14-1-1 when scoring three or more goals this season “¦ Washington has scored a power-play goal in six straight games, extending its longest stretch of consecutive games with at least one power-play marker since the 2020-21 season (five games, Jan. 24 to Feb. 1, 2021) “¦ Morrissey and Kyle Connor, who assisted on Dubois’ goal, both moved their point streaks to five games. Morrissey has six assists during the run and Connor three goals and five assists.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Capitals: Travel to Chicago for a Tuesday game against the Blackhawks.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2022.
