After a letdown against the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday, the Washington Capitals made sure early on that that wouldn't happen again.
John Carlson's goal less than two minutes into the game has given the Caps a 1-0 lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets after 20 minutes.
Carlson opened the scoring at 1:39 by crashing the net. Carlson fed the puck to Brooks Laich, who then shot it on net. Steve Mason bobbled the puck with his catching glove and left the rebound on the ice for Carlson to poke in for his seventh goal of the season in his 100th career NHL game.
Washington had an opportunity to take control of the game on a power play at 7:18, but Marco Sturm cancelled it out with a penalty of his own 41 seconds later. Jared Boll did his best to get the Blue Jackets into the game by picking a fight with John Erskine, but the two heavyweights fought to a draw.
Shots are 15-4 in favor of Washington.