Copyright yardbarker
The Columbus Blue Jackets’ two-game winning streak came to an end Friday night at Nationwide Arena, as the visiting Washington Capitals rolled to a 5-1 victory behind a four-goal third period. Logan Thompson was the difference, stopping 34 of 35 Blue Jackets shots. Washington got goals from five different scorers: John Carlson, Alex Ovechkin, Justin Sourdif, Tom Wilson, and Connor McMichael. Ovechkin’s third-period goal was the 899th of his career. Denton Mateychuk, skating on the top defensive pairing with Zach Werenski in the past two games, scored the lone goal for Columbus. Jet Greaves was sharp early but allowed four goals in the final 20 minutes, finishing with 25 saves on 30 shots. Here are three takeaways from yet another frustrating loss for the Blue Jackets. Great Chances, No Reward Columbus came out strong, generating plenty of quality looks in the first period but could not solve Thompson, who seemed unbeatable all night. Shots were even 12-12 after the first 20 minutes. Head coach Dean Evason gave Thompson credit after the game. “Their goalie was great. Yeah, he was great. Some of the saves, we were like, ‘What the heck? How’d he do that?’ We hit three posts; we just went over it. I’d argue it wasn’t just the first part of the game. It was the whole thing. What happened at the end, I don’t want to say we were better, but we had no business losing like that. That’s not a 5-1 hockey game. It was such a great game.” The Blue Jackets dominated much of the second period, outshooting the Capitals 10-2 and dominating all three zones, yet somehow trailed 1-0 heading into intermission. It was one of their best defensive periods of the season, but they had no puck luck. Through two periods, Columbus outshot the Capitals 20-14, with both goaltenders battling it out. Third Period Unraveling After two strong periods, things fell apart quickly in the third. A controversial five-minute major to Mathieu Olivier for elbowing turned the game upside down. The Capitals scored twice on that penalty, flipping a tight 3-1 game into a lopsided score. The Blue Jackets finished the night 2-for-5 on the penalty kill, with both goals coming during that major. Evason was blunt when asked about the call. “The guy gets hit, first he stops, jumps out of the way, we’re just finishing the check. Arms are in, finishing the check. There’s no chicken wing. His head hits the glass, he gets hit on this side, he holds the other side of his face. Plays the very next shift. For a five-minute major, I don’t understand it. I just don’t.” Evason continued, “All he (Olivier) knows is he’s finishing a check on a guy who jumps out of the way and might’ve hit his head on the glass. There’s no intent for a headshot. There’s no elbow to the face. He knows what he’s doing. He’s finishing his check. That’s all he’s doing.” Mateychuk scored midway through the third to break Thompson’s shutout bid, but then, to make matters worse, Dmitri Voronkov’s apparent goal that would have made it 3-2 was waved off for a distinct kicking motion.
