Tom Wilson Interview After a four-day break, the Washington Capitals made their return to action with a tough matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It would be a goalie battle from start to finish, with Charlie Lindgren facing off against Jet Greaves — the AHL goaltender of the month for November — and ultimately, Lindgren would emerge victorious as he and Aliaksei Protas powered D.C. to a 2-1 win. Here's an in-depth recap. FIRST PERIOD Washington largely controlled the play through most of the first period. Charlie Lindgren turned away a couple of Columbus shots early — including a high-quality chance for James Van Riemsdyk — but much of the period was spent in front of Jet Greaves in the Columbus zone. Washington put Greaves to the test often through the first and generated a number of chances, including a grade-A opportunity for Tom Wilson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/takes/washington-capitals-tom-wilson-aftermath-jakob-chychrun-shot-broken-sinus-bone] — rocking the full face shield — that Greaves snagged with the glove. A penalty by Trevor Van Riemsdyk would allow the Blue Jackets [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets] to put the league's best road penalty kill to the test in the second half of the period. Washington showed the Blue Jackets why its PK unit is so highly rated, killing off the penalty with relative ease. Columbus' first genuine threat came shortly after van Riemsdyk's penalty ended when Matthew Olivier stole the puck at the blue line and set up Sean Kuraly for a slot pass. It was Lindgren who came up big to turn it away. The rest of the first would be fairly uneventful, ending with the Capitals holding an 11-6 shot advantage over the Blue Jackets. SECOND PERIOD Columbus came out in the second with more pep in its step and managed to control the play for extended periods. Lindgren was sharp and managed to keep the Blue Jackets off the scoreboard for the most part, as he had one of his stronger frames of the season. Near the halfway point of the period, Columbus would be given another power play after Jakob Chychrun took a tripping call, and that would then become a 5-on-3 for just under a minute after Nic Dowd took a high-sticking penalty early in the kill. Columbus was able to maintain possession and got several chances to bury the puck, but again, Lindgren came in clutch. The remainder of the penalty to Dowd would be nullified by a Zach Werenski penalty, giving the Capitals their first power play of the game. Similar to the Blue Jackets, Washington was stonewalled by Greaves despite several great chances to break the tie. Dowd then took another high sticking penalty, giving another power play to Columbus in the second half of the period. Werenski ultimately capitalized on that one with a high shot from the slot that beat Lindgren to make it 1-0. Through the remainder of the second, Columbus continued to control the play for the most part and would take a one-goal lead into the second intermission. THIRD PERIOD Washington is arguably the best third-period team in the league, and they came out with that fire early to tie the game. Pierre-Luc Dubois [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/takes/washington-capitals-pierre-luc-dubois-major-asset] found Aliaksei Protas, who made no mistake and buried a shot Going forward, the goalie clinic put on by both Lindgren and Greaves continued, keeping both teams from doing further damage. Columbus had their share of chances, including a scoring chance by CBJ's Kirill Marchenko that led to Lindgren making an amazing save to keep the game tied. The Caps also kept Greaves busy at the other end, forcing him to make several outstanding stops. Both goalies continued their outstanding play, keeping the game deadlocked and requiring extra hockey to be played. OVERTIME Three-on-three overtime led to more excitement. Columbus controlled the play in the early going, forcing Lindgren to be sharp once again — especially on one chance that took an odd bounce in on Lindgren and almost went in. The second half of the overtime period would be controlled by Washington after its first successful possession, as the Capitals managed to wear down CBJ and Greaves. Ultimately, Protas came in clutch again, as his shot from the slot would be the game-winner and hand Washington the 2-1 overtime victory. Lindgren was excellent, stopping 32 of 33 shots in the win as D.C. extended its road win streak to 10 games. The Capitals return home on Saturday to face off against the Buffalo Sabres.
