First period:
Columbus and Washington skated to a 0-0 tie to end out the first period. The first 20 minutes turned out to be a pretty even affair between the two teams. There were chances on both ends but ultimately resulted in nothing. Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Braden Holtby seemed to be fighting off pucks throughout the period. The Columbus goaltender seemed to get is feet under him as the period went on, however. Holtby never looked comfortable.
The first real chance of the game came from the stick of Ryan Johansen. After a battle for the puck, Johansen slid under the Capitals defense. Moving in on the net, he got Holtby to move slightly, faking a backhand. Instead, he stayed with the forehand attempt but shot it wide. He didn’t have have a whole lot of room.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Blue Jackets got the only power play of the period when the Capitals’ Carlson went to the sin bin. Although they moved the puck around and got a couple of shots off, Columbus couldn’t get over the hump, and the period ended scoreless.
End of the 1st period: CBJ 0, WSH 0
Second period:
The second period seemed to just get underway when Brandon Dubinsky was called for tripping, sending him to the penalty box for two minutes and the Capitals to the power play. Coming into the game, Washington was ranked 1st in the NHL on the PP. They didn’t disappoint. After some passing around of the puck, it found its way behind Bobrovsky when Joel Ward was found open in the slot. He wasted no time ripping it past the Columbus goalie.
Ironically, it took that Washington goal to get the Jackets going. After the tally by Ward, Columbus began to get some consistent offense going, dominating in the offensive zone. Once the Caps finally cleared the puck, it led directly to a rush up ice. Washington carried the puck along the right side. The puck was eventually fired at Bobrovsky, who made the save but gave up a rebound. Brooks Laich was there to pounce on it and give the Capitals a 2-0 lead.
Once the Caps tickled the twine twice, they took over. Bobrovsky had to save a plethora of quality chances from the Washington forwards. After sustained play in the Columbus zone, the Capitals got rewarded a power play. The Blue Jackets, however, stepped up their penalty kill, resulting in a power play for them. After 4 on 4, the Jackets looked to cut the score in half by scoring on the man advantage.
The Jackets had some nice movement and tried to find some open shooting lanes.It was not to be, though, as Holtby was better than any shot Columbus attempted. The score remained the same.
End of 2nd period: CBJ 0, WSH 2
Third period:
The third period started like the second-with a Washington goal. While trying to clear the puck, Nikita Nikitin had a brutal turnover to Martin Erat, who found a wide open Troy Brouwer in front of Bobrovsky. He was stopped for the first attempt but got the rebound and buried it past the Columbus goalie.
Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
Shortly after the third goal, Dubinsky found his way back to the penalty box. Alex Ovechkin put it on himself to further embarrass the Jackets by scoring the fourth goal of the game. It all went down from there.
The Capitals kept pushing forward and the Columbus Blue Jackets of old reared its face once more. The defense could not find it within themselves to clear the puck throughout the third period.
The Jackets, in an attempt to put some respectability back in the game, looked to get on the board when they went on the power play for the 3rd time. To the embarrassment of Columbus, however, Washington’s penalty kill was dominant, leading to a power play for themselves. Several shots later, the Blue Jackets were lucky to get out of the Caps man advantage 4-0.
The Jackets finally scored their first goal a few minutes later. On a rush up the ice, Marian Gaborik found a streaking Artem Anisimov. That was his second of the year.
End of the game: CBJ 1, WSH 4