Game 4 Preview: Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets
Here’s what you need to know
Thursday, April 19, 2018 - 7:30 PM EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports Ohio, USA - Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Japers’ Rink
Blue Jackets lead series, 2-1
Schedule and Results
Game 1 (4/12/18): CBJ 4 @ WSH 3 (OT)
Game 2 (4/15/18): CBJ 5 @ WSH 4 (OT)
Game 3 (4/17/18): WSH 3 @ CBJ 2 (2OT)
Game 4 (4/19/18, 7:30 p.m.): WSH @ CBJ
Game 5 (4/21/18, 3:00 p.m.): CBJ @ WSH
Game 6 (4/23/18): WSH @ CBJ (if necessary)
Game 7 (4/25/18): CBJ @ WSH (if necessary)
Stats
| Washington | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.33 (8) | GPG | 3.67 (6) |
| 3.67 (11) | GAPG | 3.33 (9) |
| 35.3% (3) | PP% | 33.3% (4) |
| 66.7% (12) | PK% | 64.7% (14) |
| 55.13% (2) | EV Corsi % | 44.87% (15) |
| 95.0 (14) | EV PDO | 105.1 (3) |
| Evgeny Kuzetsov and Alex Ovechkin, 2 | G Leader | Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson, 2 |
| John Carlson, 6 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 5 |
| John Carlson, 7 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 7 |
| Noted pile of dog poop Tom Wilson, 6 | PIM Leader | Josh Anderson, 17 |
| 1-0 | Home / Road | 0-1 |
Projected Lineups
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Boone Jenner | Nick Foligno | Thomas Vanek |
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Josh Anderson |
| Sonny Milano | Mark Letestu | Oliver BJORKSTRAND |
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Ian Cole | David Savard |
| Ryan Murray | Markus Nutivaara |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Alex Ovechkin | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Tom Wilson |
| Jakub Vrana | Nicklas Backstrom | T.J. Oshie |
| Brett Connolly | Lars Eller | Devante Smith-Pelly |
| Chandler Stephenson | Jay Beagle | Alex Chiasson |
| Dmitry Orlov | Matt Niskanen |
| Michal Kempny | John Carlson |
| Brooks Orpik | Christian Djoos |
| Braden Holtby |
| Philipp Grubauer |
Preview
What a series, huh? This matchup has been as close as can be, with all three games so far requiring extra time. Tuesday’s double overtime thriller was the longest game in Blue Jackets franchise history. Both teams took yesterday off to rest and recover. Will we see any lingering effects tonight?
Fun fact from our friends at Japers’ Rink:
2 - Number of career overtime goals, regular season or playoffs, for Lars Eller in 657 games with the second coming last night in Columbus (you know, in case you missed it). Eller’s previous extra-time tally came as a member of the Canadiens back in April of 2015 against Detroit.
Eller joins Nicklas Backstrom (3), T.J. Oshie (1), Tom Wilson (1) and Brooks Orpik (1) as current Caps who have lit the lamp in playoff overtime. And yes, you read that correctly - the NHL’s all-time leader in regular season overtime goals (with 20) hasn’t done it in the playoffs... yet.
In a related note, 105.7’s Lori Schmidt uncovered this gem of a stat:
Career @NHL Playoff overtime goals:
— 105.7 The Zone (@1057TheZone) April 16, 2018
Sidney Crosby + Alex Ovechkin + Gordie Howe + Mark Messier + Mario Lemieux = 1.
Matt Calvert of @BlueJacketsNHL = 2
Don’t expect any lineup changes tonight, as Alexander Wennberg has once again been ruled out, still recovering from that dirty, underpunished hit by Tom Wilson in Game 1.
For further reading, check out this Washington Post profile of Seth Jones, and his brief time in DC as a child.
Keys to the game:
- Stop taking penalties, dummies
- Find ways to get more shifts for Sonny Milano and BJORKSTRAND. Of all 312 skaters in the playoffs this year, Sonny is dead last with 4:33 time on ice per game. (Seth Jones is #1 with 32:42 per game, followed by 4 Caps: Orlov, Carlson, Niskanen, Ovechkin)
- Crash the net. No, not to get more goalie interference penalties. Go at the net to make Braden Holtby work more. The Jackets are not creating enough high danger chances. They have only 32.08% of high danger chances at 5v5, worst in the league in these playoffs. (it was 50.33% in the regular season, good for 13th in the league. Stat courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.)/