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Welcome back, Charlie Lindgren: Capitals beat Blue Jackets 2-1

By Chris Cerullo

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November 4, 2023 9:39 pm

The Washington Capitals continued their long home stand on Saturday with a date against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wins against Metro Division competition are important for a team that appears like they’ll be on the fringe of the division’s playoff spots this year. Could the Capitals grab the two points?

Tom Wilson made a nifty move and got a fluttering shot off that opened the scoring. Sonny Milano was the beneficiary of a tic-tac-toe passing play to double the Capitals’ lead. Dmitry Voronkov got Columbus on the board early in the second with a deflection.

Capitals beat Blue Jackets 2-1!

  • The Capitals did not have a ton of the puck in the first period but managed to finally find some finish to their game as they came out of the frame up two goals. Now, the team just needs to be able to dominate possession and score at the same time. That would be nice but seeing pucks go in at all right now feels great.
  • Tom Wilson was all over the place early on. He scored the opening goal, drew a penalty, drew a penalty shot, and took his own penalty all in 5:13 of first period ice time.
  • Some bad news on the injury front. Veteran defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk played just 1:34 of ice time before leaving the game with a lower-body injury and not returning. The Capitals do not currently have a primarily right-sided extra defenseman on their roster right now.

  • Everything that I said about the first period, flip that around and you have the second period. The Capitals dominated five-on-five play but could not find the back of the net behind Elvis Merzlikins. Connor McMichael’s line with Anthony Mantha and Aliaksei Protas was a standout. They had a handful of shifts with sustained offensive pressure but had nothing to show for it on the statsheet.
  • The Capitals’ power play does not look any different than it has for like the past decade. They were seemingly trying new things to start the year but have just settled back into what’s comfortable but also what just does not work anymore. I don’t understand why they even got rid of Blaine Forsythe if the solution seems to be just doing the exact same stuff. Incredibly frustrating to watch.
  • A little too much overpassing in this game, right? I think they were getting good traffic in front of Merzlikins but the puck just wasn’t getting to the net enough.
  • Alex Ovechkin has not scored for four games now. That matches his goalless streak to start the season. The Great Eight rang the crossbar and had a breakaway stopped in this one so the chances are still coming.

  • The third period was more even but the Capitals still had plenty of scoring opportunities. Multiple chances to put the game to bed early but still just cannot find a consistent scoring touch.
  • Charlie Lindgren was fantastic in his return to the net, making 35 saves in the win. Just ask Cole Sillinger and Kirill Marchenko.
  • The penalty kill was clutch all night, killing off all five of Columbus’ power plays. Beck Malenstyn was particularly impressive in that role.

The Capitals will have another extended break before their next game against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. Weird schedule continues to be weird.

Headline photo courtesy of @DanSnydersYacht/X

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