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Capitals vs Blue Jackets live analysis and updates (January 31, 2023)

By Ian Oland

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January 31, 2023 7:04 pm

This is your place to check for updates and comment along with the Washington Capitals vs. Columbus Blue Jackets game on January 31, 2023.

The Washington Capitals did not play well in the month of January, posting a 5-7-1 record. Now, in their final game of the month, they’ll try to reverse course against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets sit last in the Metropolitan Division with a 15-32-3 record.

The Capitals’ next game after tonight comes in 11 days with the team going on its bye week after the All-Star Break. So basically, I’m saying: Let’s try to enjoy it!

Tonight’s matchup is on NBC Sports Washington and puck drop is slightly after 7 pm.

Links

Lines

Tunnel Shenanigans

1st Period

Ovechkin-Strome-Shary and Gustafsson-TVR get the start. Charlie Lindgren is facing Joonas Korpisalo in net.

Marcus Johansson takes the game’s first penalty.

🚨 1-0 Capitals. Garnet Hathaway gets the Capitals on the board first at the 5:06 mark of the first. Lars Eller gets the primary assist.

NBC Sports Washington showed Martin Fehervary skating 24 MPH on a rush up ice. Holy moly he is fast.

🚨 2-0 Capitals. This sums up how Columbus’s season has been going. A defender got his stick on Trevor van Riemsdyk’s point shot, but that actually helped it go in. The goal came at the 14:28 mark.

🚨 2-1 Capitals. Twelve seconds later, the Blue Jackets answered with a goal from Andrew Peeke. The shot appeared to deflect off Alex Ovechkin and then Trevor van Riemsdyk into the net past Lindgren. The goal came at the 14:40 mark.

Columbus is utilizing an extra pass in the offensive zone and it’s throwing the Capitals’ defensive coverage into chaos. The Blue Jackets have had multiple high-danger chances the last few minutes late in the third.

The Capitals end the first period with a 11-9 shots advantage, but the Blue Jackets had the edge at 5v5 shot attempts, 14-13. The Caps lead in expected goals, 0.87 to 0.34.

2nd Period

Garnet Hathaway blocks a shot off the side of his foot. He’s in pain. According to the NBCSWSH booth, he is standing at the bench.

There was a mini-line brawl after a big hit on Nick Jensen in the corner by Sean Kuraly. At the end of the melee, Jensen was laying on the ice trapped in a Cobra Clutch-esque move by a CBJ player.

The only penalties are:

– WSH Martin Fehervary for cross-checking
– CBJ Mathieu Olivier for roughing

🚨 3-1 Capitals. Trevor van Riemsdyk has a two-goal night after he left his defense position and scored at the top of the crease. The Caps were playing with four players up. The goal comes at the 8:26 mark of the period. Evgeny Kuznetsov got the primary assist after a beautiful no-look pass.

🚨 3-2 Capitals. TJ Oshie got absolutely shredded on a two-on-one as Eric Robinson skates by him and scores on a layup. The goal comes at the 11:02 mark.

The Blue Jackets mostly dominated that period. CBJ now has a 21-20 shots on goal advantage and a 31-30 5v5 shot attempts edge. The Capitals still have the expected goals edge, 2.20 to 1.51.

3rd Period

🚨 3-3 tie. Johnny Gaudreau ties it up on a two-on-one break. The Capitals have to close games out like these. How they’re giving up odd-man breaks like this with a one-goal third-period lead is unreal.

Trevor van Riemsdyk takes a shot off his hand. He leaves the ice in pain.

The Blue Jackets took it to the Caps in the final minutes. Again, this is the worst team in the Metropolitan Division.

Columbus ends the game with a 34-32 shots on goal advantage in regulation. To overtime we go.

Overtime

The Caps start OT with Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marcus Johansson, and Erik Gustafsson. A good skating trio.

And the Capitals win 26 seconds in.

🚨 4-3 Capitals. Evgeny Kuznetsov scores after he’s left wide open in the slot.

Comment below. Refresh this article throughout the night as we’ll be updating it live.

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