T.J. Oshie tallies twice as Capitals blow past Blue Jackets

T.J. Oshie scored two goals and the visiting Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Thursday night.

Alex Ovechkin scored his seventh goal in four games for the Capitals, who are 7-0-2 in their past nine games and 12-2-3 in their past 17. Dylan Strome had three assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves. Washington has won a franchise-record seven straight road games.

Johnny Gaudreau and Gavin Bayreuther scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost nine of their past 10 games while being outscored 37-16. Emil Bemstrom had two assists, and Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves.

The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead at 5:19 of the first period when Gaudreau blocked Nicolas Aube-Kubel's clearing attempt and then knocked the loose puck over Kuemper's shoulder.

Oshie tied it 1-1 when he got to a loose puck in the slot and wristed it past Merzlikins at 1:51 of the second period.

Oshie was playing his second game after missing six games with an upper-body injury.

Aube-Kubel's strong individual effort led to his first goal as a Capital. He picked up a turnover in the neutral zone, cut back into the Columbus zone, went to the net and scored to make it 2-1 at 11:15.

Bayreuther's left point shot eluded Kuemper on his glove side at 12:59 to tie the score 2-2.

The Capitals took a 3-2 lead when Strome's shot bounced off Martin Fehervary's helmet and into the net for a goal at 17:20.

Garnet Hathaway converted a pass from Anthony Mantha behind the goal line to put the Capitals ahead 4-2 with 1:03 left in the second period.

Bayreuther appeared to pull the Blue Jackets within 4-3 early in the third period, but Washington challenged the goal and the play was ruled offside after a video review.

The Capitals extended their lead to 5-2 when Oshie knocked in the rebound of Strome's shot on a power play at 6:41. Ovechkin scored on a one-timer off a pass from Strome on a power play to make 6-2 at 13:05.