The Blue Jackets record now stands at 13-10-6 with 32 points.
The Jackets were held scoreless in a 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Sunday night. Goalie Jet Greaves played unbelievably, making 36 saves, 14 of those being on Caps power plays.
The story of this game, though, was Capitals goalie Logan Thompson. No matter what Columbus did, they couldn't beat him. Thompson made 39 saves, including 5 power play saves and two shorthanded saves. To put it bluntly, he was amazing.
First Period - 0-0- SOG 12-9 in favor of CBJ
The first ten minutes of the game felt like two teams who were feeling each other out. Both teams had a couple scoring chances, but for the most part it, was just back and forth hockey.
The good news is that the Blue Jackets didn't seem too tired despite playing on Saturday afternoon. Playing the second half of a back-to-back is usually difficult, but in this case, they actually got more than 24 hours between games, and it looked like the CBJ had a lot of jump early.
The period would end without either team scoring a goal. It was a very even period for both teams, with each having a couple of scoring chances.
Second Period - 1-0 Caps - SOG 19-11 in favor of the Caps
The second period started very poorly for Columbus. Just 50 seconds into the second period, Jakob Chychrun continued to destroy the Jackets by scoring his third goal against them in the last two games. It was his league-leading 11th goal, to lead all defensemen. It wasn't that the Jackets did anything wrong on the play, it was just that Tom Wilson and Jakob Chychrun are just that good this year.
Kirill Marchenko gave Washington its first power play when he tripped Justin Sourdif 4:27 into the period. The Blue Jackets killed it off fairly easily, which hasn't been such an easy thing to do the last few games. The Jackets had given up 7 power-play goals in the last three games coming into this one.
The Blue Jackets started to make a push and pick up the pace right around mid-period. But Kirill Marchenko killed that momentum when he was sent to the box again, this time for holding Ethen Frank. Luckily for the Jackets, they were able to kill the penalty to keep the score at 1-0.
The Blue Jackets gave Washington their third power play of the period when Brendan Gaunce was called for holding. Just 11 seconds later, the Capitals were called for hooking, negating their man advantage.
The period would end with the Caps taking a 1-0 lead into the third period. Both Jet Greaves and Logan Thompson have played extremely well to this point. Thompson is puzzling the Blue Jackets and has played like he's the best goalie in the league.
Third Period - 2-0 Caps - SOG 16-10 in favor of Columbus
The Blue Jackets started the third period with a power play that only had a few seconds of time on it after the two teams played 4-on-4 for 1:49. They wouldn't score on that short man advantage.
The Blue Jackets got their first full power play when Brendan Gaunce was hit with a high stick by the Caps Hendrix Lapierre. Gaunce was left bloody and found one of his teeth on the ice. The Capitals were given a four-minute double minor for the high stick. The Caps were able to kill off both penalties, aided by Logan Thompson and his stellar play. He made 5 saves on the 4-minute disadvantage.
Just 30 seconds after the Capitals killed the CBJ power play, Brendan Gaunce went to the box for tripping Ethen Frank. Washington thought they scored, but it was ruled to be a kick by Tom Wilson. After review, it didn't cross the line either, so it didn't matter. Jet Greaves and the Jackets would kill off the power play.
The Caps would seal the game when Aliaksei Protas scored on the empty net with 1:26 left in the game. The Jackets seemed to have no shot against Logan Thompson.
Final Stats
Player Stats
- Jet Greaves 36 saves.
- Kirill Marchenko led all Jackets with 6 shots.
- Isac Lundestrom won 66.7% of his faceoffs.
Team Stats
- The Jackets power play went 0/3.
- The Columbus PK stopped all four Washington man advantages.
- Columbus won 47.5% of the faceoffs - 29/61
- The Blue Jackets had 17 giveaways.
Up Next: The Jackets travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!
Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story.
Let us know what you think below.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
