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They blew it: Blue Jackets beat Caps 5-4

By Peter Hassett

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April 15, 2018 11:10 pm

In Game Two, the Caps scored first, dominated play during even strength, and got goals from their best player. But they committed bad penalties, they couldn’t beat the opposing goalie, their own backstop was woefully subpar, and they blew multiple leads. It was another classic Washington Capitals playoff game, and it was another excruciating loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Caps took an early lead with a Jay Beagle tip-in goal and then doubled down with Alex Ovechkin recording one on the power play. Cam Atkinson got a jailbreak pass to make it 2-1 heading into the second period, where Alex Ovechkin recorded yet another power-play goal, but hold up right there. The Blue Jackets scored three second-period goals (Anderson, Atkinson, Werenski) to erase the Caps’ lead and take one of their own heading into the third.

Braden Holtby relieved Philipp Grubauer for the final frame of regulation. The Caps put up a mighty and desperate effort to come back, but it took a gift of many late power plays and one nifty shot from TJ Oshie for them to tie it late. The inspirational comeback was all for naught. Matt Calvert won it in overtime.

Blue Jackets beat Caps 5-4. Blue Jackets lead the series 2-0.

  • Philipp Grubauer just was not saving enough shots. I’m infinitely suspicious about scouting goalies (i.e. “he’s weak high glove,” as if anyone’s not weak there). Still, saving 40 shots out of 49 is not even close to a playoff-sufficient performance. The Caps rode Grubi when Holtby floundered in February and March, and that was enough. It’s Braden’s time now.
  • Alex Ovechkin has arrived. With two snazzy power play goals in periods one and two, it cannot be said that Ovi is not contributing. I loved especially Nick Backstrom’s skip-a-man pass on the second goal. Genius playmaking. It was a superhuman performance by Ovi, with tons of ice time fueled by all those power plays and lots of offense to show for it.
  • Jay Beagle returned to action so that he could become the faceoff specialist the team lacked so badly in Game One. Except he got thrown out of a couple faceoffs. That didn’t matter so much when Beagle scored on the ensuing win by Chandler Stephenson, himself no slouch who really stepped up when…
  • Andre Burakovsky left the game following a big hit by Boone Jenner in the first period. We do not know the severity of Burakovsky’s injury right now, but we do know it is upper body.
  • Late in the second period, linesman Steve Barton bumped his skate against Nick Foligno. Barton’s knee just sorta popped and he was unable to get off the ice. I’m not a trainer, but I’ve seen enough folks suffer ligament injuries to wince.

  • Speaking of Nick Foligno, his stretch pass to set up Cam Atkinson was a thing of beauty. I mention that to point out that goals are rarely just the fault or credit of one team; it almost always requires one team to do something good and the other to do something bad. In this case, the bad was Brooks Orpik getting caught way behind the play as 4-on-4 play ended and the offensive-zone cycle vanished.
  • Just like he did in Game One, Tom Wilson got busted for a penalty that led to the Caps losing the lead. This time it was a roughing in the defensive zone. Devante Smith-Pelly followed that up with a holding-the-stick call late in the second period, which gave Lumbus the lead heading into the third.

The Caps blew it. I don’t have a nice or elegant way to put it. Barry Trotz hamstrung his team with an inferior lineup. Brooks Orpik got caught out of position, then got out-muscled in the slot again. Tom Wilson committed a careless penalty. And Philipp Grubauer was just plain bad.

Holtby was fine in relief, Oshie was clutch, and Ovechkin was tremendous, but this was still a hideous failure, which puts it in good company among other famous Washington postseason flameouts.

Now we head to Columbus. Coming back from a two-game deficit is a longshot. Maybe a one-in-ten chance. I’m not sure what to do with that information, but holding out hope like I did on Sunday night seems like an unwise and unhealthy decision.

Full Coverage of Game Two

Headline photo: Rob Carr

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