Capitals vs Blue Jackets: A Mystery, Can the Caps Solve?

The Washington Capitals will get a third chance at solving the puzzle of the Blue Jackets. Will they find a way to piece it together against their foe? Here is how it might happen and what to expect.

The Washington Capitals were on an incredible roll this year against the Atlantic Division, by holding a 11-1 record, and they were undefeated against the leader of the division the Boston Bruins.

When the Capitals were set to start Braden Holtby you would figure that record would extend to 12-1.

But the Bruins found a way to solve the mystery of the Capitals and Holtby in a 4-goal barrage in the first period, which chased Holtby from the goal face, but it was too little too late for the Capitals to overcome resulting in them losing 7-3.

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In all previous meetings against the Bruins, Braden Holtby had an 18-3 record with a 0.945 SV% and 1.79 GAA. So it is understandable why the Capitals chose to put their hopes in Holtby. Unfortunately, the Bruins were tired of being beaten by the Capitals and found the way to find victory.

The Bruins managed to be very efficient in their chances on goal as they scored seven goals on only 17 shots on goal. Compared to the Capitals who took 42 shots and only found the back of the net on three occasions.

Again the Capitals were suffering from self destruction as they had 10 minutes in the box just in the first period alone. This helped the Bruins get two power play goals in the first sandwiched around the other two being in less than a minute of each other. That would be enough to get the Capitals to fall back on Samsonov over Holtby in goal. The Capitals would only allow four shots on Samsonov for the rest of the game unfortunately it would still give them another goal.

Now the Capitals will have to overcome one of their worst losses this year with a matchup against their biggest obstacle of the season too. They will need to figure out the Columbus Blue Jackets at home to find the win column again. How can this happen?

Since their last meeting the Blue Jackets have been on a tear winning four in a row, while the Capitals are 2-1 with a devastating loss to the Bruins. With the recent success the Blue Jackets still sit in 6th place in the Metropolitan, while the Capitals hold the first place seat.

This hasn’t kept the Jackets from having the Capitals number figured out. In part the Blue Jackets should be thankful for the play of their new number one goalie, Joonas Korpisalo. His overall numbers are good with a 0.911 SV% and 2.54 GAA, but his numbers versus the Capitals are astronomical with a 0.971 SV% and 1.00 GAA. The Capitals will need to find the formula offensively to solve Korpisalo in order to find the formula for winning against the Blue Jackets.

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With his struggles against the Bruins Monday night and his struggles against the Blue Jackets this season, look for Holtby to get the night off and the Capitals to give Samsonov a chance to get the win against the Jackets.

Fortunately for the Capitals they will be healthy heading into this game, while the Jackets have recently placed Cam Atkinson on injured reserve and has Sonny Milano listed as day-to-day. Other than better play in goal the Capitals will need to solve the team defense that Tortorella has found that has been stymieing the Capitals over the last few meetings. Another key will be keeping out of the penalty box as the Capitals will need all hands on deck to find the scoring necessary to win.

Here is how to follow the action:

Date: Dec. 27th
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Where: Capital One Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Washington

Radio: WJFK 106.7 The Fan, Caps Radio 24/7
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