Washington Capitals: One night in Columbus changed everything

Down 2-0, the Washington Capitals were on the verge of elimination in the opening round. But, Game 3 in Columbus started a Stanley Cup run.

The Washington Capitals were in a heap of trouble.

As they traveled to Ohio for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the Columbus Blue Jackets, they trailed the series 2-zip. To rub salt in the wounds, both those loses came at home in overtime. The margin of error was gone. Another loss would put them on the brink.

Yet, as they took the ice at Nationwide Arena, the Caps looked lose. Braden Holtby replaced Philipp Grubauer in goal. Outside Jakub Vrana filling in for the injured Andre Burakovsky, along with Christian Djoos playing on defense, this was the same main lineup from the opening two games.

Teams down 0-2 in a best-of-seven have an 85 percent chance of losing the series. In Washington’s case, the home ice advantage they fought for during the regular season vanished. Instead, they hoped to survive in front of 19,000-plus screaming fans in Columbus.

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A funny thing happened, the Blue Jackets failed to press from the start. As the first period rolled on, the Caps got comfortable. There was no early Columbus goal to send the fans into a frenzy.

Unable to kill a penalty in DC, Columbus scored on four of eight, Washington shut down two in the first period. As the second period started, the Caps skated as if they had the series in command.

Tom Wilson opened the scoring nearly six minutes into the second, set up by a hard ringer from Matt Nisaken. Although Columbus would tie the game on a Pierre-Luc Dubois goal five minutes later, the Caps would never trail on this Tuesday night.

On back-to-back slashing calls, and a pair of trick sticks, John Carlson made the most of a two-man advantage and nailed a laser past Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. With 20 minutes left, Washington led 2-1.

Then came the Columbus rush. Cam Atkinson set Artemi Panarin up with a pretty series of tic-tac-toe passes to knot the game at two. With the place rocking, the Blue Jackets went on the offensive, but Holtby stood tall. Washington did not get trapped into a bad penalty during regulation and weathered the storm.

By the middle of the first overtime, legs were tired, especially the home team. Icing calls were frequent and good chances dwindled. Even Carlson’s tripping penalty failed to break the tie.

Into the middle of the second extra frame, the game ended on a fluky goal. Brett Connolly’s shot bounced off Bobrovsky and then collected a piece of Zach Werenski. Lars Eller saved Werenski the horror of an own goal by touching the puck. Washington would win the next three.

Instead of wondering whether Connolly’s overturned goal in the second period really was offside, the Caps steamrolled then destroyed their demons to win the Stanley Cup.

Next: A long-term look at goalie

Yes, Tampa and Pittsburgh were huge challenges. But, by not blinking when the chips were down in the first round, the Washington Capitals gelled under overwhelming odds and survived. Thanks to being a complete unit.

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