Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson sparkled as he delivered his first shutout of the season to backstop his squad to a 2-0 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
Thompson made 39 saves to earn his seventh career shutout.
Jakob Chychrun and Aliaksei Protas scored for the Capitals, who are riding a 10-1-1 roll that has lifted them atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves stopped 36 shots for Columbus, which lost on consecutive nights.
After a scoreless first period, Chychrun cracked the goose eggs 50 seconds into the middle frame. While his team was buzzing around the offensive zone, Chychrun was set up by Tom Wilson for a one-timer from just inside the top of the left circle and buried his 11th goal of the season, tops among NHL defensemen.
From that point, Thompson stood tall.
He was especially strong during a Columbus four-minute power play midway through the third period in which the Blue Jackets fired five shots on goal. Thompson provided highlight-reel worth saves in successive scoring chances in a flurry.
For his part, Greaves provided a fantastic effort in a classic goaltending battle from the drop of the puck, staring down Nic Dowd’s deflection and Protas’ golden chance in the opening minute.
The Blue Jackets pulled Greaves for the extra attacker with 2:40 remaining in regulation but Protas notched an empty-net goal at 18:34 to run his point-scoring streak to six games (four goals, two assists).
Earlier in the day, Washington coach Spencer Carbery announced that forward Ryan Leonard (upper-body injury) will be out “an extended period” after he was on the receiving end of a hard hit from Anaheim’s Jacob Trouba on Friday. Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren (upper-body injury) will be out of action at least one week.
