The Washington Capitals came into Saturday’s fixture against the Columbus Blue Jackets on a rare losing streak this season. Could they make sure that streak remained at only two games?
Aliaksei Protas wristed one to the roof to open the scoring. Alex Ovechkin scored his 750th career goal to double the Caps lead. Eric Robinson cut the lead in half in the third. Garnet Hathaway empty netter.
Capitals beat Blue Jackets 3-1!
- Pretty great first period from the Caps and they likely should have been up more than one. I am very tired of the puck hitting the post and not going in. The returning Conor Sheary was robbed twice in the period, once by goaltender Daniil Tarasov and once by the crossbar.
- Really good to see Aliaksei Protas keep producing even away from the top-line assignment he’s been given recently. He has four points in his last five games. Viktor Kozlov-lite wants to stay on this team.
- The power play is…still doing *gestures broadly*…”that”. Blech.
Coach: I know you’re not playing, but we need you focused and ready to come in at any moment.
Backup: pic.twitter.com/t8i3V1EaY7— Goalie Gear Nerd (@GoalieGearNerd) December 1, 2021
- An even better second to follow up a good first. It felt like the puck was in the Blue Jackets zone the entire period. Without Daniil Tarasov this game is at least 4-0 heading into the third. That dude is super bendy.
- Alex Ovechkin did his thing again. Ovi is the second fastest to 750 goals in NHL history and Tarasov is the 152nd goaltender he has scored against.
- The Connor McMichael line caused havoc in the offensive zone. I really think McMichael and TJ Oshie are very compatible players and when they got working below the dots they are really tough to contain. Imagine if Mikey had been able to complete that spin-o-rama move? Yeesh.
- Yegor Chinakhov had a goal disallowed for Columbus by an incredibly obvious offside call. Very weirdly, that’s the fourth time already this season that Chinakhov has been burned by a challenge overturning a goal.
This goal call just killed me
“What a play that was”
“I guess” pic.twitter.com/RI6JZ2dGuj
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) December 5, 2021
- The third wasn’t bad but it was yet another third that clearly wasn’t as good as their first two periods. The Jackets got right into the game when they scored and were all of a sudden lively for the first time in the game.
- Matt Irwin made his Caps debut. He had an interesting first period. About all I got on him.
- Ilya Samsonov didn’t need to do a whole lot but good to see him stay solid after getting absolutely pelted by shots from the Panthers. He made 17 saves in the win.
- Crowd sang Mr. Brightside at the end of the game. Well done.
do not adjust your television set, @Laughlin18 and @JoeBpXp are just trying out some bold contrast colors #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/UfWLv2kk86
— good tweet pete taco emoji (@peterhassett) December 4, 2021
The Anaheim Ducks come to town on Monday. Lars Eller is hoping he won’t get stuck in a hotel room for almost two weeks this time.
Headline image via @davewarner99
