After a 7-0 thrashing of the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon, the Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to the nation’s capital for a rematch tonight. With a 4-1 victory, the playoff hopes remain alive (for at least 24 more hours).
First Period
The Capitals wasted no time making sure they wouldn’t be shut out again. Of course it came from Alex Ovechkin, now the all-time goals leader, who took yesterday’s game off. It was neat to see him score wearing uniforms that bring to mind what he wore in 2005 in his NHL debut…against these Jackets in this arena.
I spent all of yesterday’s game wanting Mathieu Olivier to fight Tom Wilson, but instead he dropped the gloves today against Dylan McIlrath. Yawn.
The Jackets got the first power play of the game after Boone Jenner drew a tripping penalty on Trevor van Riemsdyk, but did nothing with it. I don’t get how a team with this much scoring ability can be so ineffective with the man advantage. Teams know they can form a tight box around the slot and the Jackets won’t be a threat. They just cycled the puck around the outside and got no high danger looks.
Fortunately, back at 5v5 the Jackets were able to tie it up thanks to a goal from the actual best #8 on the ice, Zach Werenski. I’m not sure how this puck found its way cleanly through traffic, but Charlie Lindgren had no prayer of seeing it or stopping it.
The chippiness surrounding rookie Ryan Leonard continued, as Leonard ripped off Zach Aston-Reese’s helmet right in front of the bench. An official was right there, but somehow there was no call.
There was definitely a push from the Jackets in the back half of the period, but the Capitals held the edge in quality looks.
Second Period
Adam Fantilli took the lead after getting a turnover in the offensive zone off the forecheck.
From this point, the Capitals took control of the game but Jet Greaves stepped up when he had to in order to hold the lead.
Third Period
An insurance goal came early in the third, with an insane no-look backwards pass from Kent Johnson to a wide open Fantilli.
Another young forward scored a goal off a turnover, this time the Big Boss himself, Dmitri Voronkov. He blocked an outlet pass just inside the neutral zone, and drove in for the goal.
Sean Monahan was called for tripping with 2:45 remaining, which should have given the Capitals one last chance to get back into the game. The Jackets’ kill got a quick turnover and a breakaway from Justin Danforth and Boone Jenner. Pierre-Luc Dubois slashed Danforth in front of the net, negating the rest of the Washington power play. At 4v4, the Jackets were able to win possession initially and burn about a minute of clock playing keep-away.
Final Thoughts
What an insane week for Jet Greaves. He played on Wednesday for Cleveland, then got called up on an emergency basis on Thursday and started a 3-2 win over Buffalo. He then earned his first career shutout on Saturday, and followed it up with allowing one goal on 30 shots against today. That’s 4 full games in 5 days, and three straight NHL victories in the last four days. He had to work harder tonight than yesterday, but he earned it.
Depth scoring is nice, and that’s something the Jackets have been fortunate to have all season. That being said, when the stakes get high is when you want to see your stars step up and take over. After a relatively cold stretch, Zach Werenski responded with early goals the last two games. Adam Fantilli stepped up with back-to-back two-goal games. That makes it 29 on the season, and per Jeff Svoboda, 22 of those have come in the last 41 games. Things have clicked for Mo in 2025 and he’s demonstrating that he’s on his way to being the franchise player.
The Jackets have now tied the franchise record for goals in a season. Hopefully they break that over the next two games.
Up Next/Playoff Watch
Seven Eastern Conference teams have clinched a spot in the playoffs, and seven have been eliminated. The Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens are the other two. The Habs have a three point lead and one more regulation win, so the situation is this:
One more Montreal win clinches a berth for them and eliminates the Jackets.
If Montreal goes 0-1-1, the Jackets can leap them with two regulation wins.
If Montreal loses both games in regulation, the Jackets pass them with two wins of any kind.
The Canadiens host the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow night in Montreal. The result there will determine whether there is still something to play for when the Jackets take the ice on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
After that, the Canadiens finish their season at home on Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, while the Jackets wrap up at Nationwide on Thursday night against the New York Islanders.