Capitals only need one to beat Blue Jackets
The Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in the season debuts of Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson. Darcy Kuemper stopped all 38 shots he faced as the Caps improve to 13-2-2 in their last 17 games.
At 2:43 of the first period the Caps scored the lone goal of the night and it came on a snipe that bounced off a defender from Erik Gustafsson for his seventh of the season. Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway had the assists.
The Caps were outshot 12-8 in the first period, 12-5 in the second period, and 14-6 in the third period to be outshot 38-19 overall. Kuemper stopped all of those shots.
It was an emotional night especially for Backstrom, who got a standing ovation from the crowd before the game:
“It meant the world [to play again]. Obviously I missed this, and with not knowing what my future was going to hold, just coming back and playing was great.”
It was also a big night for Wilson who was in his first game back with the team after undergoing ACL surgery:
“Happy to get that one out of the way, and felt a little bit better than I thought out there. But it’s definitely overwhelming when you get out there — the music, the fans, and it’s a fast game. So you got to just take it in stride and do your best.”
Backstrom nor Wilson played no restrictions to their minutes. Backstrom ended up playing 14:03. Wilson clocked out at 14:10. Each player got time not he power play with Backstrom on the first unit and Wilson on the second. Each had one shot on goal.
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Backstrom was mostly on the line with Alex Ovechkin and Conor Sheary. Wilson skated with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dylan Strome. To make room, the Caps placed Joe Snively on waivers and scratched Anthony Mantha.