Chychrun scores twice to lift Capitals over Blue Jackets 5-1

WASHINGTON (AP) – Jakob Chychrun scored twice and the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Monday night.

Tom Wilson and John Carlson each had a goal and assist, and Martin Fehervary also scored for the Capitals, winners of four of the last five.

Denton Mateychuk scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who have now dropped three of their last four.

Chychrun kicked off the scoring for Washington 6:05 into the first, jumping on a loose puck and cutting to the inside before wiring a quick shot past Elvis Merzlikins. He now has goals in three straight games and is also on an eight-game point streak.

Washington then ran away with things late in the second, scoring three times in a span of 3:28. First, Wilson struck on a one-timer to make it 2-0. Chychrun got the power play on the board with a snap shot from the point with 15 seconds remining. Just 12 seconds later, Carlson scored off a feed from Alex Ovechkin off the draw to push it to 4-0.

Fehervary’s point shot through traffic put the Capitals up 5-0 at 4:05 of the third. Four of Washington’s five goals came from the blue line, and the team leads the league in goals by defensemen with 19 this season.

Columbus played without leading scorer Kirill Marchenko due to an upper-body injury that flared up at morning skate. They also lost Mathieu Olivier late in the first and Zach Werenski late in the second with upper-body injuries.

The Blue Jackets got on the board in the third when Mateychuk walked in and sneaked one past Logan Thompson.

Thompson, who returned to the crease after being pulled last game, had 22 saves.

Merzlikins stopped 26 shots in the defeat.

Blue Jackets: Return home to face the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

Capitals: Host the Jets on Wednesday.