Columbus Blue Jackets: Clinching Away Ice Advantage?
By William Espy
The Columbus Blue Jackets face a difficult stretch of games coming up to finish off the playoffs, as game five will be played in Washington. Game six will be back and Columbus, and if necessary a game seven will be back in Washington.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have away ice advantage for the remaining best of three series against the Washington Capitals. Away ice advantage is not a common thing, however so far in this series the visiting team is undefeated through four games. With two of the three remaining games in the nation’s capital, this could prove to be very beneficial for the Blue Jackets if the trend continues.
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So far the away team has outscored the home team 16-10 in the four games that have been played to this point. While a majority of the difference has come in Washington’s win in Columbus on Thursday night, this statistic proves just how home ice isn’t always an advantage.
Teams feel motivated to embarrass the opposition in their town and building, as a result the away team will be on top of their game while the home team will act as if it’s business as usual for the playoffs.
The Blue Jackets would likely prefer to win their first series in franchise history on the ice of Nationwide Arena, however it’s beginning to seem unlikely following the recent trends. More likely than not, it seems that they’ll have to settle with winning it in Washington if they’re able to beat out the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby certainly are doing their best to prevent this from happening though.
With away ice advantage secured for the rest of the first round, the Columbus Blue Jackets need to find a way to finish out what they’ve started and make sure the Capitals are unable to win any playoff games at home in round one.