Game 5 Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets at Washington Capitals

Columbus Blue Jackets at Washington Capitals
Saturday, April 21, 2018 – 3:00 PM EST
Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.
TV: Fox Sports Ohio, NBC – Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Japers’ Rink

Series tied 2-2

Schedule and Results

Game 1 (4/12/18): CBJ 4 @ WSH 3 (OT) Recap
Game 2 (4/15/18): CBJ 5 @ WSH 4 (OT) Recap
Game 3 (4/17/18): WSH 3 @ CBJ 2 (2OT) Recap
Game 4 (4/19/18, 7:30 p.m.): WSH 4 @ CBJ 1 Recap
Game 5 (4/21/18, 3:00 p.m.): CBJ @ WSH
Game 6 (4/23/18): WSH @ CBJ
Game 7 (4/25/18): CBJ @ WSH (if necessary)

Stats

ANALYTICS per Brian Hedger, Blue Jackets.com

Columbus

• Corsi (5v5 shot-attempts percentage) – 46.6% (203 for, 233 against), 12th
• 5v5 scoring-chance for percentage (SCF%) – 46.9% (97 for, 110 against), 12th
• 5v5 high-danger scoring chance percentage (HDSC%) – 37.3% (28 for, 47 against), 15th
• 5v5 shots-for percentage (SF%) – 45.6% (99 for, 118 against), 14th  /

Washington

• Corsi (5v5 shot-attempts percentage) – 53.4% (233 for, 203 against), 5th
• 5v5 scoring-chance for percentage (SCF%) – 53.1% (110 for, 97 against), 5th
• 5v5 high-danger scoring chance percentage (HDSC%) – 62.7% (47 for, 28 against), 2nd
• 5v5 shots-for percentage (SF%) – 54.4% (118 for, 99 against), 3rd/

Things have trickled down to a best-of-three series between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. Game 5 today in Washington is the scene of the last two Blue Jackets wins this series, both teams winning on the road. John Tortorella was short with reporters following his teams’ latest 4-1 loss Thursday, and though it shouldn’t take much to get up for a playoff game, tied at two-games a piece on the road, we’ll see how each team starts off today.

Players to Watch

Capitals’ Evgeny Kuznetsov enters with six points (three goals, four assists) after his latest four-point performance (one goal, three assists). Defenseman John Carlson paces the Caps’ scoring this series, leading with eight points (one goal, seven assists) and has a point in each of the four games.

Sergei Bobrovsky entered the playoffs as a question mark dictated on his playoff history, but for this series has been the rock the Jackets have leaned on. With 152 saves on 165 shots, Bobrovsky has a .921 save percentage and 2.73 goals-against average. Artemi Panarin co-leads the Jackets with Cam Atkinson with two goals, and Panarin leads the team with five assists, seven points. He was held off the scoresheet during Thursday’s loss.

The Capitals have said forward Andre Burakovsky will miss the rest of the series after needing to undergo minor surgery for a minor upper-body injury sustained Game 2.

This quote from Blue Jackets Insider, Brian Hedger on Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, “Among NHL goaltenders who’ve made a minimum of 50 starts in the playoffs, Holtby ranks second all-time with a .932 career save percentage in the postseason.”

Alexander Wennberg skated Friday but remains day-to-day following his Game 1 upper-body injury. According to Wennberg, he has told players he is ready to return, so we will monitor that.

The Blue Jackets won 55% of the 60 faceoffs in Game 1, but since Jay Beagle has returned, centering the Capitals’ fourth line, Beagle has won 34-of-48 draws (70.8%) in his three games. As a team, the Capitals have won the faceoff battle in two of the previous three games.

Columbus has played catch-up all series, going down the early goal in each of the four games, and spotting the game’s first two goals in three of the previous four. The Jackets went 15-20-1 in the regular season in which the other team scored first, and this scenario occurred in 11 of the final 20 regular season games.

Projected Lineups