The Capitals scored a flurry of goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, but the team’s most valuable player was arguably on the other end of the ice. Goaltender Logan Thompson put up a nearly perfect showing in the 5-1 victory, stopping 34 of 35 shots to keep the game alive.
For a Capitals roster that struggled in the first forty minutes before an offensive deluge in the third period, Thompson’s support stopped what could have been a one-sided game in the other direction.
“I think we just stole two points,” head coach Spencer Carbery said after the win. “Logan was fantastic, especially to keep us in it in the first, whatever it was, 40 minutes of the game. Thought we were very fortunate to be leading 1-0 after two. And then that second goal was a big moment off the faceoff. So we’ll take it, but certainly going to need to be a lot better tomorrow night.”
Despite the lopsided final score, Columbus looked like the better team for much of the first half of the game. The Blue Jackets outshot the Capitals 30-20, out-chanced them 30-25, and had nearly double as many high-danger chances as Washington (15-8) at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Across all situations, Thompson stopped 3.48 goals above expected.
The second period was particularly dismal for the Caps in terms of offensive chances: though John Carlson scored to put Washington up 1-0, his goal was one of just two shots the team had all period. Meanwhile, Thompson stopped all 10 Blue Jackets shots he saw in the middle frame.
“We needed LT every shot they had, and I thought he was great,” said Dylan Strome.
Friday’s high-traffic game was a sharp contrast from Thompson’s recent starts, where he’d faced under 30 shots in his prior three contests (at least, according to the NHL’s official shot counters). Thompson told reporters postgame that he’d expected as much after facing Columbus in two exhibition games this season.
“Those games are fun,” he said. “They have a lot of skill. Like you saw earlier in preseason, they shoot a lot of pucks. So I think from a goalie standpoint, those are easy games to get up for, knowing you’re going to see a lot of rubber. And I know they had a decent amount of shots tonight, but I thought the guys in front of me did a good job letting me see everything tonight.”
Denton Mateychuk scored Columbus’ lone goal of the evening midway through the third period, ruining Thompson’s shutout bid. The Blue Jackets later thought they’d narrowed their deficit to one with a goal from Dmitri Voronkov before officials ruled that he had kicked the puck into the net.
Besides crediting his teammates, Thompson also noted that a rebound-heavy game like Friday’s could have easily gone the other way, pointing to both Capitals goaltending coach Scott Murray and good luck for their help against the Blue Jackets.
“Sometimes that game can go ugly for a goalie, and today the pucks were hitting me.” he said. “I was just working at practice with Scotty Murray and just trying to stay sharp when called upon. And like I said, today good things happened and could have gone the other way. So I’m very fortunate for tonight’s win.”
Justin Sourdif credited Thompson’s ability to deal with screens as a particular asset in Friday’s showing.
“I think when you’re having two or three guys in front of you, it’s pretty hard to stop a puck when you can’t see it, and he just does such a great job of fighting through traffic,” he said. “We’re like, ‘How did he see that?’ And he’s just able to get low and see those shots coming through screens. He also is just really sound, too, with the puck. It helped us out a lot tonight.”
Thompson even made a contribution to Washington’s offense on Friday, earning his first assist of the season on Sourdif’s breakaway goal in the third. The play started in Washington’s own end when Thompson made a heads-up pass to Ryan Leonard for a zone exit. Leonard then sent the puck to Sourdif, who was all alone to beat goaltender Jet Greaves.
“I just wanted to throw up the middle, mix it up,” Thompson said of the pass. “I was using the walls a lot and yeah, it got it through and I got a point out of it. So I won’t do that too often, but I’m happy it worked tonight.”
With the win on Friday, Thompson improves to a record of 5-1-0 on the season. He will likely play next when the Capitals face the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
