Jet Greaves made 22 saves for his first NHL shutout and the Columbus Blue Jackets kept their playoff hopes alive with a 7-0 win against the visiting Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Adam Fantilli scored two goals and James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets (37-33-9, 83 points), who are four points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second Eastern Conference wild card spot. Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson each had a goal and an assist.
Greaves, 24, was playing his 18th NHL game and eighth this season.
Hunter Shepard made 19 saves for the Capitals (50-20-9, 109 points), who played without captain Alex Ovechkin, who was a healthy scratch. Washington trails the Winnipeg Jets by three points for first place overall.
The two teams meet in Washington Sunday night following a penalty-filled contest on Saturday that featured several fights.
Zach Werenski gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead 1:00 into the first period when he scored on the first Columbus shot of the game, a wrister from the left circle off a pass from Monahan.
Johnson made it 2-0 at 4:53 by skating down the left side, eluding a falling defenseman in the left circle and beating Shepard from the low slot.
Fantilli increased the lead to 3-0, taking a cross-ice pass from Johnson and scoring from the left circle on the rush with six seconds left in the period.
Fantilli struck again at 2:01 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot from the right point to make it 4-0.
Monahan pushed the lead to 5-0 at 4:37 when he scored at the left post, burying the rebound of Denton Mateychuk’s shot.
Cole Sillinger made it 6-0 at 5:14. Dmitri Voronkov stole the puck behind the Washington net and fed it in front to Sillinger, who one-timed it past Shepard.
Van Riemsdyk scored from the low slot at 17:39 of the third period for the 7-0 final.
–Field Level Media
Katie Ledecky is showing off Olympic form at this week’s Tyr Pro Meet, the biggest stage she’s been on since winning two gold medals and four medals overall in Paris…
It’s a new month and a new series for the Baltimore Orioles. They’ll play their first game in May on Friday night against the visiting Kansas City Royals. The Orioles…
While Aaron Judge is leading in many hitting categories, Max Fried is atop several pitching areas for the New York Yankees. Judge takes a major-league-best .427 average into the first…
Red-hot Royals travel to Baltimore for weekend series
Aaron Judge, Max Fried lead Yankees into series against Rays
MLB roundup: Guardians rally past Twins in 10th inning
Reports: Premier League star Kevin De Bruyne might join Fire