March 5, 20187 yr The Jackets playoff hopes almost got broken after losing at L.A. and Anaheim. But the CBJ prevented an O-for-California with a win at San Jose last night: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/5/17079824/recap-not-dead-yet-columbus-blue-jackets-beat-san-jose-sharks That win moved Columbus over the playoff line going into this week. However, Florida still holds three games-in-hand over the Jackets. And although games-in-hand don't guarantee extra points in the standings, Florida is on a six-game winning streak and has been converting those games-in-hand into points lately. The Jackets will need Florida's hot streak to cool off to stay above the playoff line:
March 6, 20187 yr The CBJ begin a four-game home stand tonight that could make-or-break the playoff hopes: - Tuesday vs. Vegas - Thursday vs. Colorado - Friday vs. Detroit - Monday vs. Montreal
March 6, 20187 yr Bob is out sick for tonight's game: ??? http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180306/blue-jackets-bobrovsky-out-sick-korpisalo-to-step-in
March 7, 20187 yr ^ Worked out okay last night. Panarin scored 16 seconds into the game. The rest of the team kicked in with a 60-minute effort and balanced scoring from Z, Cole, & PLD. Korpi saved 37 and looked sharp this time. Jackets have won 4 of their last 6 games to stay above the playoff line with 15 game remaining: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/6/17088150/korpisalo-blue-jackets-slay-golden-knights-4-1
March 9, 20187 yr Korpi again in net last night (Bob was the backup and will likely start tonight vs. DET). Korpi wasn't as sharp this time but got bailed out by the offense: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/9/17099900/the-morning-after-three-in-a-row-columbus-blue-jackets-colorado-avalanche The CBJ won their 3rd straight in a back-and-forth match last night. Colorado scored the first two goals. Then the Jackets scored four unanswered goals. Then the Avs tied it up with two third-period goals to force overtime. Seth Jones scored the GW goal 59 seconds into the OT. Deadline Day acquisition Thomas Vanek scored two goals in regulation. Jenner and Z got the other two.
March 10, 20187 yr Fourth straight win for the CBJ vaults them (at least temporarily) into the first wild-card spot: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/9/17103024/columbus-blue-jackets-hang-on-against-detroit-coming-for-you-philly
March 13, 20187 yr Five in a row for the CBJ! The Jackets swept their four-game homestand with a 5-2 win over Montreal last night: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/12/17112358/columbus-blue-jackets-seth-jones-lights-the-lamp-twice-as-jackets-rout-montreal-5-2 Last night's win again vaulted Columbus over NJ for the WC1 spot. Florida lost to Ottawa last night and is now 4 points behind Columbus (although FLA still holds 3 games-in-hand). NJ holds 1 game-in-hand but starts a potentially difficult west coast road swing against Vegas, LA, ANA & SJ. With only a dozen games remaining, it looks like the two wild-card spots are down to Columbus, New Jersey and Florida - as CAR, NYI, & NYR have fallen off the playoff pace:
March 13, 20187 yr Five in a row for the CBJ! The Jackets swept their four-game homestand with a 5-2 win over Montreal last night: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/12/17112358/columbus-blue-jackets-seth-jones-lights-the-lamp-twice-as-jackets-rout-montreal-5-2 Last night's win again vaulted Columbus over NJ for the WC1 spot. Florida lost to Ottawa last night and is now 4 points behind Columbus (although FLA still holds 3 games-in-hand). NJ holds 1 game-in-hand but starts a potentially difficult west coast road swing against Vegas, LA, ANA & SJ. With only a dozen games remaining, it looks like the two wild-card spots are down to Columbus, New Jersey and Florida - as CAR, NYI, & NYR have fallen off the playoff pace: The only bit of bad news from the Jackets fifth straight win last night was an injury to defenseman Seth Jones. After scoring two goals earlier in the game, Jones didn't play in the third period. After the game, Coach Tortorella said Jones was kept out as a "precautionary" measure after he aggravated a previous injury. That previous injury likely occurred three games ago when Jones scored the game-winning goal in overtime Thursday against Colorado. As the below-linked Dispatch article states, "Jones took a cheap shot in the side by Carl Soderberg as he went to celebrate that goal and has been wearing protection on that side since." That GW-goal started a run of five goals in the past three games for Jones. So hopefully this injury doesn't sideline him. Also on the injury front, defenseman Markus Nutivaara returned after missing about a month with an undisclosed injury and replaced Ryan Murray, who was described as being "nicked up": http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180312/blue-jackets-notebook-aggravated-injury-keeps-seth-jones-out-of-3rd-period-as-precaution
March 16, 20187 yr Six in a row! The CBJ are getting hot at the right time. Last night's win at Philly ties the Jackets in points with the Flyers (who still hold 3rd in the Metro by tiebreak). The Flyers are getting cold at the wrong time, 1-6-1 over the last 8 games. The Jackets are in the WC1 spot, one point ahead of NJ who has 1 game-in-hand. We're up 4 points on Florida, but FLA still holds 3 games-in-hand. Jones played last night and looked fine. Cam gets a hat trick (the last goal being an empty-netter that he needed two tries to get - but it still counts!): https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/15/17127600/recap-the-gang-wins-again-columbus-blue-jackets-philadelphia-flyers
March 18, 20187 yr Lucky Seven last night on St. Pat's Day: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/17/17135122/blue-jackets-top-ottawa-senators-to-win-seventh-in-a-row CBJ still tied with 3rd-in-the-metro PHI in points, but behind via tiebreak. Holding the WC1 spot by one point over NJ. But NJ holds one game-in-hand and plays tonight. FLA lost last night, so their 3 games-in-hand over the Jackets are now equalized by being six points behind the CBJ:
March 19, 20187 yr - PHI won last night and goes up 2 points with one less game remaining on the CBJ. - NJ lost last night and stays 1 point behind the CBJ with the same number of games remaining. With 10 games remaining, the CBJ have a back-to-back road swing at Boston (tonight) and NYR (Tuesday). Then back home for a big Thursday match with Florida and then Saturday against STL (who is fighting for a wild-card playoff spot in the West).
March 20, 20187 yr 8! The CBJ guts out an OT win in Boston: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/19/17136842/eight-is-great-jackets-streak-presses-on-after-overtime-win-in-boston Jones sat out a second straight game recouping from his rib injury. Korpi filled in for Bob last night and Boston's own Cam Atkinson got the OT game-winner for C-BUS in Beantown. The OT win holds serve with Florida in the standings, who also won last night, and reties the CBJ with Philly, who sit third in the Metro via tiebreak. On the MSG to face NYR tonight.
March 21, 20187 yr 9! Jackets win their 9th in a row and the Bread Man delivers a hat trick in MSG: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/20/17144978/recap-artemi-panarin-hat-trick-powers-columbus-to-their-ninth-straight-win Florida won in regulation, Philly lost via shootout, and NJ lost in regulation last night. The CBJ vault over Philly into the Metro 3rd spot and is 5 points ahead of NJ (1 game-in-hand) and 6 points ahead of Florida (3 games-in-hand). Columbus is also now tied in points with Pittsburgh for the Metro 2nd spot. Florida comes to town for a Thursday match that is a virtual must-win for them.
March 23, 20187 yr 10! https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/22/17154086/recap-three-second-period-goals-push-jackets-streak-to-10 The CBJ dispatched Florida with a 3-goal-in-5-minute flurry to start the second period. Jones returned to the lineup and scored his 15th goal of the season to lead all CBJ defensemen and Bob gets his 5th shutout of the season.
March 26, 20187 yr The Streak 2018 ended at 10 with a 2-1 loss to the Blues. http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL.html The Jackets still are in good position of making the playoffs with 6 games left. If history is any precedent, they need 6 points in the final 6 games to make it in. Unfortunate news - https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2018/03/2040/forward-nick-foligno-out-two-to-four-weeks-with-lower-body-injury Forward Nick Foligno is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury, leaving the forward lines a bit scrambled for the rest of the season. Winger Josh Anderson is traveling with the team on the 3-game road trip through western Canada, indicating he's close to be being back. As for now, the Blue Jackets called up Alex Broadhurst from Cleveland and he was rotating in at center during practice. The team could also lean on Markus Hannikainen to play and Brandon Dubinsky is likely to be a mainstay in the lineup through the end of the regular season. Expect PLD to center Panarin and Atkinson again. Jenner and Vanek will flank Wennberg. The bottom six gets tricky but it appears Torts will start out with Dubinsky centering Milano and Bjorkstrand, leaving Letestu on a 4th line with Calvert and Hannikainen/Broadhurst. Very Stable Genius
March 27, 20187 yr That Foligno injury is a tough loss with him being on a hot streak lately and centering the top line. Getting Anderson back during this three-game Western Canada road trip would help. Dubinsky will need to step up his game if he going to center the Milano-Bjorkstrand third line. If he doesn't, the call-up of Cleveland Monsters leading scorer Alex Broadhurst might be interesting. Broadhurst centered a Milano-Bjorkstrand line during the Monsters 2016 Calder Cup run. It's a good thing the CBJ had a 10-game winning streak and banked away alot of points. While the Women's Final Four takes over Nationwide Arena, the Jackets will go on their annual Western Canadian road trip - Tuesday at Edmonton, Thursday at Calgary, Saturday at Vancouver. With only 6 games remaining for the CBJ, probably getting 4 of the 6 possible points during this road trip might be necessary to hold ground in the playoff race. Because this Metro/Wild Card race is tight-tight-tight going into tonight's games. Columbus is at 89pts/6GR. Philly is at 89pts/6GR and a tiebreak behind C-BUS. NJ is at 86pts/7GR. FLA is below the playoff line at 85pts/8GR. But if NJ wins their game-in-hand they would have 88 points and if FLA wins their two games-in-hand they would have 89 points. So that would be 89, 89, 89 & 88 points between these four teams fighting for three playoff spots!
March 28, 20187 yr WOW, what a game last night at EDM: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/27/17171144/recap-burning-the-midnight-oilers-columbus-blue-jackets-edmonton-oilers-thomas-vanek-hat-trick After the first ten minutes, the CBJ were down 3-0! But by the end of the first period, the game was tied up 3-3. And those three goals were the first of SEVEN UNANSWERED GOALS en route to a 7-3 rout. Trade deadline pickup Thomas Vanek got a hat trick. To show how much the deadline pickups have changed this team, consider this. In their first 70 games, the CBJ had zero hat tricks. In the past 7 games, the CBJ have had 3 hat tricks! Oddly they've all come on the road - so not many hats being thrown on the ice during these hat tricks.
March 30, 20187 yr Found this breakdown of the various possibilities for the CBJ's first-round playoff opponent depending on how the rest of the season goes (barring a complete collapse in which they miss the playoffs entirely, of course): http://lastwordonhockey.com/2018/03/29/columbus-blue-jackets-first-round-matchups/ For the record, I'll just say that it would be nice *not* to play Pittsburgh, even if it might mean playing a nominally "better" club.
March 30, 20187 yr Jackets are 14-3 since the trade deadline and have won 12 of their last 13 games. I agree, avoiding Pittsburgh would nice. Very Stable Genius
March 31, 20187 yr Another win, another hat trick Thursday night: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/30/17178974/another-hat-trick-another-win-columbus-blue-jackets-5-calgary-flames-1 -- This time rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois got the hattie. He's now got 18 goals, a new CBJ rookie record. PLD now holds the franchise record for goals and points for a rookie - the previously rookie leader was Rick Nash! -- Defenseman Markus Nutivaara signed a four year contract extension prior to the game and got a goal. Not bad for an overage 7th-round draft pick! -- The CBJ were up 5-0 before a late game Calgary goal. Combined with the Edmonton game, they scored 12 unanswered goals. -- The Jackets go for the Western Canada trifecta today at Vancouver. It's also a bit of Columbus-Vancouver derby too, since the Crew host the Vancouver MLS club today.
April 1, 20187 yr The CBJ got another road point with an OT loss at Vancouver yesterday: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/3/31/17184404/recap-blue-jackets-at-canucks I have to admit that I turned off this game when the Jackets were down 4-1 with 5 minutes to go. I'd just seen Vancouver defeat the Crew and wasn't in the mood to stick around to the bitter end to watch another Vancouver team defeat another C-BUS team. If I'd stuck with it I would've seen the CBJ score a power-play with four minutes remaining to make it 4-2. Then I would've seen the CBJ pull their goalie for an extra attacker and score two more goals within 16 seconds at just over a minute remaining to force OT. Unfortunately the CBJ couldn't win it in overtime. But the OT point earned the CBJ 5 of 6 possible points in their Western Canadian road trip. And Florida lost yesterday, which puts the Jackets on the verge of a playoff berth.
April 2, 20187 yr CBJ win out (Detroit, Pittsburgh, @Nashville) the final 3 games and they will finish #2 in the Metro and have home ice advantage in Round 1 of the playoffs. DET - terrible and wanting to get to the golf course. Don't play Korpisalo and it should be a win. PIT - tough. Must win but the Pens are rounding into postseason form. NSH - has clinched top seed in the West, nothing to play for so they will likely be resting a bunch of players. Should (? hoping?) be a win. Very Stable Genius
April 3, 20187 yr Jackets host Detroit tonight with a chance to clinch the playoffs. If the Jackets win tonight, and if Florida loses tonight, the CBJ will clinch a playoff spot.
April 4, 20187 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/3/17195964/columbus-blue-jackets-beat-detroit-red-wings-again-but-no-clinchmas The Jackets once again spotted an opponent a 4-1 lead and once again rallied to tie it in regulation. This time, they finished the job with an OT winner by Pierre-Luc Dubois. Columbus now sits tied with Pittsburgh for 2nd place in the Metro at 96 points with a YUGE matchup on Thursday. Any points earned in the final two games or any loss by Florida in their last 3 games will clinch the playoffs for the Jackets. Very Stable Genius
April 6, 20187 yr PLAYOFFS CLINCHED!!! https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/5/17204250/blue-jackets-clinch-playoff-berth-in-overtime-loss-versus-penguins
April 6, 20187 yr The CBJ clinched their playoff berth in an overtime loss to the Penguins last night. For the first time in franchise history, the Columbus Blue Jackets are in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons! While a win over the Pens would've been the icing for the playoff cake in a sold-out Nationwide Arena last night - the main thing is get in the playoffs first. Still, its frustrating to see how close the CBJ are to the 2-time defending Stanley Cup Champs - and yet they just cannot get over that final hurdle. This season the Jackets lost all four matches against Pittsburgh. But three of those four losses came in OT/SO, only one was in regulation. SO CLOSE! This "close but no cigar" relationship with PIT matters because as it stands currently, the CBJ's playoff matchup would be PIT. Below are the Metro/Wild Card Standings going into the final regular season game on Saturday. WAS has clinched the #1 Metro spot. PIT can clinch the METRO 2 spot with one more point. CBJ and NJ have clinched a playoff berth, but could finish anywhere from METRO 2 to WC1 or WC2. PHI is only one point from clinching and could finish from METRO 3 to WC2. FLA must win their final two games and hope PHI goes pointless in their final game on Saturday to make the playoffs.
April 8, 20187 yr On Saturday night Columbus knew they were playoff-bound, but they didn't know who their opponent would be. Pittsburgh won Friday to lock up the METRO 2 spot. Philly won earlier on Saturday to clinch their playoff berth (and eliminate Florida). The Philly win also moved them one point ahead of the Jackets into the METRO 3 spot. So, going into Saturday's regular season finale at Nashville, the CBJ could jump back into the METRO 3 spot with a win or point and a NJ loss. The CBJ could also land in the WC1 spot with a loss and a NJ loss. Or the CBJ could've landed in the WC2 spot with a loss and a NJ win or point. Here's the opponents for each spot: - METRO 3: Pittsburgh WC1: Washington WC2: TB/Boston - Given those four possible opponents, the best-case for the Jackets would be the WC1 spot with the playoff-vexed Washington Capitals as an opponent - rather than Pittsburgh or TB/BOS. That would require a CBJ loss at NASH and a NJ loss at WASH last night. NJ/WASH started their game before the Jackets and the Caps jumped out to an early lead. NJ fought back to tie it up in the third period before the Caps got two goals to win 5-3. So NJ did their part. Now the Jackets needed to lose. The Jackets rested most of their key players. Jones, Werenski, Murray and Nutivaara were out on defense. Panarin, Atkinson, Wennberg, Foligno and Sedlak were out on offense. And Korpi was in goal instead of Bob. Nashville was playing a full starting lineup (presumably because it was their fan appreciation night, because they didn't have a thing to gain by winning). So the "Blue Jackets" loosing last night looked probable. Although the Jackets went down 3-0, they almost managed a comeback. Anderson and Dubinsky scored to make it 3-2. But then Nashville did their job and got an empty-netter to clinch it: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/7/17211454/columbus-blue-jackets-fall-to-nashville-predators So last night's "loss" felt pretty good. They lost in a non-embarrassing manner, got Anderson his first goal since returning from injury, and got Dubi his first goal in 24 games. And they got the first-round opponent they wanted in the playoffs. On to Washington!
April 9, 20187 yr Playoff schedule for the first-round games with Washington have been announced: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/9/17214994/columbus-blue-jackets-playoff-schedule-officially-announced
April 12, 20187 yr THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS ARE HERE!!! GO JACKETS!!! GO CBJ!!! Here are some previews of tonight's CBJ vs. WASH first-round matchup from the Jackets Cannon: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/11/17218812/columbus-blue-jackets-vs-washington-capitals-the-cannon-staff-predicts-the-series https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/12/17222032/nhl-networks-kevin-weekes-chats-with-the-cannon-about-the-columbus-washington-first-round-series https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/12/17213872/game-preview-blue-jackets-at-capitals-game-1 There were some questioning if the Jackets should've gone 'all-out' for a win in the last regular-season game instead of resting most of their key players. A win would have given the CBJ a first-round series with Pittsburgh. A loss ended up giving the CBJ a series against Washington - the Metro Division season champs. Well, PIT destroyed PHI 7-0 last night - so I think that answers that question! No offense to the Washington Capitals, but we've seen this act from them before. The Caps are typically great in the regular-season but under-perform in the playoffs. Washington has made the playoffs 10 out the last 11 seasons - but has never advanced to the conference finals. This despite finishing 1st in their division seven times and having the best record in the NHL three times! Much of the blame is placed at Alexander Ovechkin. The dynamic Russian winger is a terrific scorer in the regular-season - but can't replicate it in the playoffs. This is mostly because of Ovi's reliance on the power-play for much of his scoring. For instance, this season Ovi had 49 goals to led the NHL. But 19 of those goals came on the power-play. In playoff hockey less penalties are called and goals scored during 5x5 play typically determine the games. The Caps are also in the midst of goalie controversy. Their #1 goalie, 28-year-old Braden Holtby, has been the Caps primary goaltender for the past six seasons, winning the Vezina in 2016. But Holtby struggled down the stretch, giving way to 26-year-old Philipp Grubauer in net. Coach Trotz has decided to start Grubauer for Game 1. Grubauer has only 2 NHL playoff appearances. So this could be a brilliant coaching move or a disaster in the making. As for our Blue Jackets, they're hitting the playoffs on a hot streak since making those moves at the Trading Deadline. In their final 17 games, the CBJ went 13-2-2. They are fully healthy - Foligno is returning after missing the final 6 games and Nutivaara is returning after missing the final 3 games. The three deadline pickups - Vanek, Cole, Letestu - have filled out an already solid roster for the playoffs. And some key players - Panarin, Dubois, Jones, Werenski - finished the season strongly. The primary source of concern for the CBJ is probably our goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Bob has been great in the regular season - winning two Vezinas and being a primary reason why the Jackets reached the playoffs in 2014 and 2017. But Bob has yet to reach his regular-season greatness in the playoffs. These playoff struggles even go back to his earlier years at Philly in 2011 & 2012. Bob will need to be better for the Jackets to advance over the Caps. If the Jackets do advance over the Caps, it would be the first playoff series won by the franchise, and a major milestone for the CBJ. In their other three playoff appearances, they faced the Detroit Red Wings in their prime in 2009 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in their prime in 2014 & 2017. Let's see what the Jackets can do against a team that's had their own playoff struggles!
April 13, 20187 yr Wow great game tonight. So happy to get that win! Jarmo's major moves are really paying off better than anyone could have hoped - trading Saad for the Breadman last summer, and drafting PLD back in 2016 Can't wait for Sunday night
April 13, 20187 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/12/17232484/bread-rises-in-game-one-columbus-blue-jackets-4-washington-capitals-3-ot If Game 1 is any indication, this is going to be a whale of a series! It didn't start out well for the CBJ though. The Jackets were on the penalty-kill for 9 minutes of the first 22 minutes of Game One. The Jackets killed off a BS goalie interference call on Foligno (he was pushed into the goalie) and a legit hooking call on Cole. But they couldn't kill off a five-minute major assessed to Anderson - on a questionable boarding call that also saw Anderson given a game misconduct. Kuznetsov scored two power-play goals before the first period ended - the first one on what looked like goalie interference to TJ Oshie. So after one period, the CBJ were down two goals, down a player, and still had around two minutes of the 5-minute major to kill off. But they did, and then the comeback started. The Jackets got their first goal only a few minutes after the PK on a beautiful pass from Jenner to Wennberg for a tap-in. It was Wennberg's first career playoff goal. Then at just over a minute into the third period, Tom Wilson committed an arguably worse hit on Wennberg. Wilson looked to intentionally target Wennberg's head while he was engaging Ovi. The hit knocked Wennberg out of the game. Instead of a 5-minute major and game misconduct, Wilson only got a 2-minute charging call. -- But the Jackets made the Caps pay anyway. Only 13 seconds into the PP, a pass from Dubois to Vanek in front of the goalie tied the game up 2-2. Washington re-took the lead four minutes later and looked they might eke out a home win against the surging CBJ. But then a tripping penalty with five minutes remaining led to a Jackets power-play. Jones scored his first career playoff goal on this power-play to re-tie it 3-3. And that was how regulation play ended. Then 6 minutes into OT, the Breadman delivered! Panarin made a great individual play to get past Caps defender Brooks Orpik and beat the Caps goalie with a sweet topside corner shot. JACKETS WIN! JACKETS WIN!
April 13, 20187 yr Among the many moments that don't get mentioned in the game recap was this moment from the 2nd period when team captain Foligno saved a goal by batting it out of the air in front of the net. In the Jackets Cannon comments section was this funny photo blow-up of it:
April 13, 20187 yr Here are the highlights of Game One (although the two controversial hits by Anderson and Wilson are not included): EDIT: Apparently you must view it on YouTube :P - just use the link
April 15, 20187 yr GAME 2 PREVIEW: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/15/17234650/game-preview-columbus-blue-jackets-at-washington-capitals-game-2 Both Anderson and Wilson were not given any additional league discipline for their hits. The player Anderson hit and knocked out of Game 1 - defenseman Michael Kempny - will be back in the Caps lineup, as will their fourth-line center, Jay Beagle, who was out of Game 1. However, Wilson's hit-job on Alexander Wennberg has knocked Wennberg from Game 2, and possibly longer. With Wennberg out, the CBJ lineup will shift a bit. Milano is expected to draw in on wing (and make his Stanley Cup playoff debut). Foligno will replace Wennberg on the second line and Dubinsky will replace Foligno on third line. At least to start the game. Wennberg has been a key player in the Jackets stretch run, scoring 12 points in the last 18 games and centering a rejuvenated Jenner-Wennberg-Vanek line, so his absence will be noticeable. But the pressure is squarely on the Caps tonight. This is a virtual must-win game for Washington. They don't want to be down two games going into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday and Thursday.
April 16, 20187 yr But the pressure is squarely on the Caps tonight. This is a virtual must-win game for Washington. They don't want to be down two games going into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday and Thursday. They're down two games going into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday and Thursday.
April 16, 20187 yr But the pressure is squarely on the Caps tonight. This is a virtual must-win game for Washington. They don't want to be down two games going into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday and Thursday. They're down two games going into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday and Thursday. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
April 16, 20187 yr GAME 2 RECAP: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/16/17240466/columbus-blue-jackets-at-washington-capitals-game-two-recap The Caps came out and played like a team that needed to win Game 2. They outshot the Jackets 19-8 in the first period and built a 2-0 lead. But despite that edge, the Jackets got a critical goal with 1:35 remaining on a beautiful stretch pass from Foligno to Atkinson, who got behind the Caps defense and made a beautiful finish to make it 2-1 going into the first intermission. The Caps kept up the pressure in the second period and scored a power-play goal four minutes in - Ovi's 2nd PP-goal of the game. But a key moment came shortly after when the Caps had a 3-on-1 breakaway that Savard and Bob stopped to keep the score 3-1. -- Instead of getting a three goal lead, the Caps saw the Jackets reel off three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead into the second intermission! So the CBJ needed to hold on to that one goal in the third period. They almost did, but just couldn't keep out of the penalty box. The Caps eventually broke through with another power-play goal with 3:35 remaining. The Jackets even gave them another chance when they put the Caps on the power-play for the final 1:59 of the period. But the Jackets held on to force overtime. But in OT, it would be the Jackets who would prevail. Matt Calvert scored the game-winning goal a little over 12 minutes into OT off a Werenski shot that saw Calvert hold off a defender with one arm and use the other to gather the rebound and send it in! MATTY ICE FOR THE WIN!! Bob was BOB! as he set a personal and franchise record with 54 saves. The Caps outshot the Jackets 58-30 - including 27-8 from the start of the third period through overtime. But although the Caps were desperate, their "playoff luck" continued. Now the CBJ hold a commanding 2-0 lead going into the two home games at Nationwide Arena this week.
April 16, 20187 yr I have mixed feeling about Bob getting the franchise record for saves there. You only get to set a franchise record for saves if the rest of your defense is allowing that many shots on goal, which isn't exactly a great position to be in. And he did still give up 4, which is right in line with his not-exactly-impressive 3.88 GAA (IIRC) in previous playoffs. Those stats will generally lose you more games than they'll win you, notwithstanding our 2-0 series lead so far.
April 16, 20187 yr I have mixed feeling about Bob getting the franchise record for saves there. You only get to set a franchise record for saves if the rest of your defense is allowing that many shots on goal, which isn't exactly a great position to be in. And he did still give up 4, which is right in line with his not-exactly-impressive 3.88 GAA (IIRC) in previous playoffs. Those stats will generally lose you more games than they'll win you, notwithstanding our 2-0 series lead so far. This is a weird (and bad) take. Bob has a .920 sv % in the playoffs. He can't help it if his team decides to hand the Capitals SEVEN power plays. He's stopped .966 at even-strength. It was an all-time performance last night. Very Stable Genius
April 16, 20187 yr I'm not saying I have mixed feelings about Bob's individual performance last night. I have mixed feelings about the fact that he was in a position to set that record at all. In the 2014 World Cup in soccer, Tim Howard for the U.S. had a record-setting performance as a goaltender for saves against Belgium, and the U.S. lost. Part of the reason for that was the amount of shots on goal we were allowing. Offensively, it's great that we were able to score 5 goals against the Caps. Defensively, it's not great that we put ourselves into the position where 5 goals were actually necessary to win, and moreover, that the only reason that victory threshold wasn't higher was because a Vezina-winning goalie was having a great individual game. The Caps were ninth in the NHL in scoring in the regular season, which is obviously nothing to sneeze at but they weren't Tampa Bay, either.
April 17, 20187 yr Yeah, we definitely shouldn't keep tempting fate by going down 2 goals, committing too many penalties and waiting until OT to win. But if you're going to tempt fate in the playoffs - the Washington Capitals are the team to do it with! Just look at these photos taken by Dispatch photographer Kyle Robertson just after Calvert game-winning OT goal last night: It looks like these Caps fans have seen this kind of playoff failure too many times and are now dead inside!
April 18, 20187 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/18/17248566/recap-washington-capitals-at-columbus-blue-jackets-game-three Tough loss last night as the Jackets fell 3-2 (double OT) in the longest game in franchise history. The game set a new Nationwide Arena attendance record with 19,337 in the building. https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2018-stanley-cup-playoffs/2018/04/2199/blue-jackets-set-franchise-record-with-19337-fans-at-nationwide-arena-to-see-game-3 The Jackets drew iron on at least four shots making the loss that much harder to swallow. Up 2-1 in the best of 7 series, the Jackets are back on the ice Thursday. Have to wonder if fatigue will become a factor with all of these OT games. The decision by Washington to play Holtby paid dividends after one game, at least. Tortorella hardly played his 4th line which left players gassed by the 2nd OT. Very Stable Genius
April 18, 20187 yr The CBJ tempted fate with the Caps once too often. Tough loss, but when you get to OT, its anyone's game and any weird deflection or bounce can decide it. And we did win those previous two OT's. On to Game 4. Try to stay out of the penalty box and try to win it in regulation!
April 20, 20187 yr Jackets put up their worst performance in a long time last night, losing 4-1 and home-ice "advantage" (road team has won every game). Game 5 in Washington at 3:00 on Saturday. Very Stable Genius
April 20, 20187 yr Jackets put up their worst performance in a long time last night, losing 4-1 and home-ice "advantage" (road team has won every game). Game 5 in Washington at 3:00 on Saturday. https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/19/17256094/capitals-beat-blue-jackets-4-1-series-tied-at-2 Yeah, that was a stinker. If you don't believe me and D&S, just ask Coach Torts. From his post-game press conference at 3:42: "We weren't good. ... We laid an egg. I'm not gonna break it down for ya. We sucked. We sucked. So let's move on and see if we play better Saturday afternoon."
April 22, 20187 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4/21/17266702/recap-jackets-bounce-back-but-fall-in-ot-4-3 Torts wondered if the CBJ would play better Saturday afternoon in Game 5. They did - but still fell short. This time in OT. The Jackets started the scoring first (for the first time in this series) on a shortie from Calvert. The Caps tied it up later in the first and then took a 2-1 lead in the second before Calvert got his second goal of the game to re-tie it 2-2. But penalties hurt the CBJ again, when TJ Oshie scored on the power-play to give the Caps a 3-2 lead going into the third. The CBJ made a mighty push in the third period. Bjorkstrand scored his first goal of the series only 2:30 into the period to tie it 3-3. And then the Jackets put the pressure on and outshot the Caps 16-1! But the game-winning goal never came and we went into overtime for the fourth time in the series. Nicklas Backstrom would get the game-winning goal nearly 12 minutes into OT to force the Jackets to the brink of elimination. As the Jackets return to Columbus for Game 6 on Monday, here's a sobering stat I heard on the NHL Network - in a series tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 wins the series 78.8 percent of the time! So the Jackets backs are against the wall and the odds are against them.
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