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Blue Jackets beat Caps 5-1 ¯_(ツ)_/¯

By Peter Hassett

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February 26, 2018 10:35 pm

Alright. Welp. The Caps lost again. This time to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Um. Yeah, I dunno, y’all. I guess this is the part where we talk about who scored, so here’s that.

Artemi Panarin notched a power-play goal through a good screen after a nifty reverse from Seth Jones. Alex Ovechkin got a PPG of his own, but then the Jackets piled on. Sonny Milano scored from point blank (five feet from the goal line), then fresh face Mark Letestu did the same (three feet from the goal line). And Seth Jones topped it off with a point shot through traffic to make it 4-1 after one period.

Holtby got the hook, and the second period was calmer. Though, maybe calm isn’t what you want when you’re trying to climb out of a three-goal hole. By the third, it was clear the Caps were mostly just going through the motions. Cam Atkinson got an empty-netter, and that was it.

Blue Jackets beat Caps 5-1.

  • The Caps defense failed Braden Holtby, and Braden Holtby also failed the Caps. Milano’s and Letestu’s goals were failures (particularly by Orlov and Carlson) to keep the puck out of the paint. Holtby saved three similarly dangerous shots that period, but these two beat him. That plus the power play were enough to earn him the hook. (And the hook was certainly earned, but I dunno how the skaters can look him in the eye right now.)
  • Here’s a heatmap of where the shots were coming from, by way of Natural Stat Trick. Note the hot zone right in front of Holtby’s net, and the two G’s within it.
  • Alex Ovechkin needed all of three seconds to score on a first period power play, with a great setup by Carlson. Ovi sits at 39 goals this season, and he’s right on track for 50 goals this season.
  • More on Ovi: Matt Calvert put a cheap shot on him at the end of the first period. Calvert’s probably gonna get suspended. I don’t know if Ovi lost teeth, and I also don’t know if I’d noticed if he did.
  • Even more on Ovi: I can’t wait to hear what he and Lumbus coach John Tortorella have to say about their spirited exchange before the second period.
  • Even even more on Ovi: with this game, he set the franchise records for most games played. He is the franchise.
  • Jakub Vrana was hardly noticeable on the ice because he wasn’t on it because he was scratched again.
  • Similarly screwed was Taylor Chorney, a new Blue Jacket, who had been primed for his first appearance in navy blue since the pickup – until Ian Cole showed up in town this afternoon. Here’s Chorney back when he thought he was gonna play tonight, which will make you feel really bad. (Video by Tarik El-Bashir)

  • Anyway, the Caps were pretty dead after that first period. They slowed the pace of the game, and Grubauer did fine against a more sedate Jackets offense, but there was never a real threat of a comeback.

I didn’t get to watch the Buffalo game over the weekend, but I’m told that the Caps looked real good in it. I wondered if it was the start of a real turnaround or just a blip against one of the worst teams in the league.

And now we know.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Blue Jackets

Headline photo: Jamie Sabau

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