Pascal Vincent: “It’s getting old. I am repeating myself, but it’s getting pretty f**kin’ old right now."
The Columbus Blue Jackets lost yet another game on Saturday night in Washington. This loss marks their 6th one-goal loss since November 1st, and their 8th overall loss in a row.
To make a long story short, the Jackets outplayed the Capitals. What made the difference was the ill-timed mistakes, that more often than not, led to a Washington goal. In terms of stats, the game was fairly even at least.
Johnny Gaudreau got the Jackets on the board with his second goal of the season, a blast from between the top of circles that beat goalie Lindgren. Just 90 seconds later though, the CBJ would give up the tying goal from an odd angled shot from the right side of Elvis by Sonny Milano. Later in the period, the CBJ would experience two and a half minutes of Capital dominance. Aliaksei Protas and Alex Ovechkin would score to make it 3-1 Caps.
In the third period, the Jackets would outchance the Caps 12-4 and outshoot them 16-9. Ivan Provorov scored seven minutes in to pull to within one goal. Hendrix Lapierre scored what would end up being the game-winner 13:34 in, proving to be too much for the Jackets to overcome. Justin Danforth would score his 5th goal with just over four minutes left. But that would be it for the CBJ. 4-3 was the final.
Final Stats
Courtesy of CBJ AppThree Observations
- Johnny Gaudreau played arguably his best game of the season. He had a goal, 4 shots, and was everywhere. Hopefully, this jump-started Johnny's season.
- Patrik Laine was benched for the second straight game and didn't play the last six minutes or so in the game. Coach Vincent on Laine: “We know he’s better than that.” He had 2 shots on goal tonight. He also turned the puck over late that ended up behind Elvis when he should've shot the puck. Not a good play.
- Elvis Merzlikins gave up 4 goals on 26 shots. Not every goal can be blamed on him though, the Ovi goal and Lapierre goals specifically. Ovi was left all alone in front of Elvis which is never ideal for any goalie. And Hendrix Lapierre was gifted a breakaway which rarely ends well.
Player Notes
- Boone Jenner is now #1 in games played in CBJ history. This is no small feat.
- Ivan Provorov scored his 1st goal of the season, moving his points total to 11.
- Zach Werenski picked up his 10th assist on the season. His points total is 11 and he's tied with Provorov.
- Justin Danforth scored his 5th goal of the season. He now has 17 goals and 25 points in 69 career games.
There is no rest for the weary, as the Jackets are in Philadelphia to take on the Flyers today at 5:30 p.m.
Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.