A rare afternoon game takes place today, as the Jackets head to Washington to face Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Jackets are in the midst of a serious slump, and this may not be the game to turn things around.
The Caps are an offensive machine, and the Jackets recent defensive play may lead to this game being out of reach fairly quickly. That said, last season Steve Mason shut out the Caps, and is looking to regain last year's form again tonight. Maybe he can build off of last season's Caps game and play to the level that won him the Calder trophy. Thus far, he hasn't come close.
This is a short and sweet preview, and neither myself nor Clint will be able to do a game recap because we won't be able to see the game. If somebody wants to do a fanpost up with a game recap, I'll post it to the front page. Thanks in advance guys!
EDIT: I was able to catch the game after all, sloppy at times but a fantastic finish! Big goal by RJ. I'll have a recap tomorrow morning.
Fearless Prediction- Nothing crazy here, I just want a win.
Game Time: 5:00pm ET
Opponent's Blog: Japer's Rink
Game Page: Blue Jackets vs Capitals Coverage
TSN Preview: Blue Jackets vs Capitals Preview
TV: FSN Ohio
Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)
More after the jump...
From the Columbus Dispatch:
Jackets Links:
Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule
Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats
Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Kristian Huselius | Antoine Vermette | Rick Nash |
| RJ Umberger | Derick Brassard | Jakub Voracek |
| Jason Chimera | Sammy Pahlsson | Derek Dorsett |
| Raffi Torres | Mike Blunden | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tytuin | Anton Stralman |
| Mike Commodore | Kris Russell |
| Marc Methot | Rostislav Klesla |
| Mason |
| Garon |
| EXTRA: Nikita Filatov |
| INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Jan Hejda |
| Alexander Ovechkin | Nicklas Backstrom | Alexander Semin |
| Brooks Laich | Brendan Morrison | Mike Knuble |
| Tomas Fleischmann | Keith Aucoin | Chris Clark |
| Tyler Sloan | David Steckel | Matt Bradley |
| Shaone Morrisonn | Mike Green |
| Tom Poti | Milan Jurcina |
| Jeff Schultz | Brian Pothier |
| Jose Theodore |
| Semyon Varlamov |