Washington Capitals Can Spoil History Thursday Night Against Columbus
The Washington Capitals can play the spoiler role Thursday night against Columbus.
When the Washington Capitals take the ice at Verizon Center Thursday they have a chance to do what others have not been able to do over the past few weeks — beat the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus enters the contest with a 16-game winning streak, just one victory shy of tying the NHL record set by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1992-93 season.
Washington entered the season with its sights set on the top of the Metropolitan division. However, after three months, the Caps find themselves siting in fourth place and looking up at the Blue Jackets.
Columbus has been, without a doubt, the early surprise of the season. The Blue Jackets lead the league with 58 points and haven’t lost since November 26. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has been fantastic in net and has only allowed more than two goals three times during the streak.
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Winger Cam Atkinson leads the Blue Jackets with 18 goals and 38 total points. Center Alexander Weinberg has a team-high 26 assists.
The Caps enter the game with a small streak of their own, having won the last three games. They are coming off a wild 6-5 overtime victory versus Toronto Tuesday night.
Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 18 goals. The superstar has four goals in his last six games and usually plays his best hockey in the biggest games.
Goalie Braden Holtby will look to bounce back from Tuesday’s performance in which he was pulled after allowing three goals in the first period.
Columbus owns a 2-0 record against the Caps so far this season.
Philipp Grubauer was in net on November 15 when the Caps travel to Columbus and fell 2-1 in overtime. Nicklas Backstrom put Capitals on the board first, but that’s the only offense they could muster.
The second matchup occurred in DC on November 20. Backstrom once again got the scoring started. Ovechkin added a tally on the power play. However, Columbus got a second-period goal, and two in the third, including a last-minute goal by Weinberg, to take the 3-2 victory against Holtby and company.
All eyes will be on the nation’s capital Thursday night to see if Washington is able to finally be the one to slow down the Blue Jackets.