Adam Fantilli scored twice and Jet Greaves came up big again for the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, who kept their playoff hopes alive by spurring a 4-1 comeback victory Sunday over the Washington Capitals.
Zach Werenski and Dmitri Voronkov also scored for the Blue Jackets (38-33-9, 85 points), who have won four straight. Ivan Provorov, Sean Monahan, Kent Johnson and James van Riemsdyk recorded assists.
Greaves made 29 saves to earn his third straight victory since being recalled from AHL affiliate Cleveland on Thursday.
Alex Ovechkin scored for the first time since breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record last Sunday. Charlie Lindgren finished with 19 saves for the Capitals (50-21-9, 109 points).
The Blue Jackets, who entered the season with little expectation to contend, are three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot. Both teams have two games remaining.
Washington’s loss also meant that the Winnipeg Jets clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record.
A day after beating the Capitals 7-0 in Ohio, the Blue Jackets faced a tougher test as Ovechkin (rest) and Jakob Chychrun (illness) returned to Washington’s lineup to cap the home-and-home series.
And Washington’s captain got the home crowd into the game just 70 seconds in, beating Greaves on one-timer in the high slot off a pass from Dylan Strome. His 43rd goal of the season gave Ovechkin 896 for his career.
Werenski tied the game with 5:24 to go in the first period as his 22nd of the season came from the center near the blue line, with the defenseman threading it through traffic in the slot.
Fantilli, who scored twice in Saturday’s win and has seven goals this month, put the Blue Jackets ahead less than five minutes into the second period after the Capitals gave away the puck in their end. The center, 20, got to the puck in the high slot and scored his 28th of the season.
Fantilli added an insurance goal less than two minutes into the third period off a backhand pass from Johnson, and Voronkov finished the scoring with 4:12 left, turning a neutral-zone takeaway into an unassisted goal.
–Field Level Media
