PREVIEW: Blue Jackets host Caps on Hockey Fights Cancer Night
Columbus gets back in action against a division foe on a special occasion
With the Blue Jackets having played their last game Saturday night before tonight's home Hockey Fights Cancer contest vs. Washington, Columbus had essentially a week away from NHL game play. It was perhaps a weird time to take time off for a team that has won three in a row, and it's almost unheard of in the NHL outside of the Olympic break or All-Star break.
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Indeed, it was like going back in time to the minors -- where games are generally held on weekends for attendance purposes -- for someone like Larsen.
"In the American League when I coached there, you had lots of weeks like this, and here you don't," Larsen said Monday. "This is unique in that way for sure, so we're gonna use it and try to touch upon some things."
The plan of attack was to have Sunday off, hold hard, fast practices Monday and Tuesday, then rest again Wednesday. The Blue Jackets were back on the ice for a full-team skate Thursday, then will have a morning skate today at 10:30 ahead of the game vs. the Capitals.
On the other side of the coin, Washington played Thursday night in Detroit and posted a 2-0 win, meaning you have a matchup of a team that had five days off between games and one that had zero. That would seem to favor the Blue Jackets, but one also has to wonder if rust comes into play given how long it's been since Columbus played a competitive game.
Count CBJ defenseman Zach Werenski among those who thinks the Blue Jackets should have plenty of energy, though, especially with a large crowd expected in Nationwide Arena.
"We'll be ready to go," he said Thursday. "I felt really good today. I felt our team was moving well today, working hard. We should be full of energy tomorrow night, early on especially. I think Washington plays tonight in Detroit, so they are on a back-to-back, so we should come out flying tomorrow night and it shouldn't be too hard for guys to get going."
The funny part is that Columbus has played just two games in the first 11 games of November, but things will get crazy from here. This game kicks off a span of three games in four days and 10 in the last 19 days of November.
Looking out even further, Columbus will play 21 games in 42 days leading up to the Christmas break, which works out to a game every other day. Add in travel - the Jackets have two West Coast trips in that span as well -- and it's about to be a busy time for the CBJ.
"You don't overthink it, right?" Larsen said. "The schedule is what it is. It's the same thing we'll be saying in two weeks when we play all these games and don't get to practice. So you just deal what is in front of us, that's all."
Know the Foe
If there's a story in Washington, just as it has been for almost two decades, it's Alexander Ovechkin.
The seemingly ageless one is having an incredible season, coming to Columbus tied for second in the NHL in goals with 11 and third in points with 22 so far in 13 games. When he scored against Buffalo on Monday, Ovechkin notched his 741st career goal, tying Brett Hull for fourth all-time in NHL history with just Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Jaromir Jagr in front of him. And with Ovechkin still just 36, it appears Gretzky's all-time record of 894 is in sight for the Great 8.
On the team front, the Caps are off to a strong start, including the shutout win against the Red Wings on Thursday night. The biggest plus has been the Caps are scoring like crazy, with 3.39 goals per game to place sixth in the NHL, but Washington is also fifth in the league defensively with 2.46 goals allowed per game after the blanking of the Wings. The Caps have been particularly good at 5-on-5, outscoring teams 32-19. That helps make up for special teams that have struggled some, with the power play at 17.0 percent and the PK at 81.1 percent.
Ovechkin is far from the only Caps player getting on the scoresheet, as Evgeny Kuznetsov was a potential offseason trade target but is off to a great start with a 5-12-17 line. Tom Wilson is playing Tom Wilson hockey, with a 3-7-10 line, plus-9 rating and 18 penalty minutes, while John Carlson adds three goals and six assists. Defensively, Nick Jensen's plus-13 rating is best in the NHL.
In net, 26-year-old Zach Fucale earned a shutout in his NHL debut last night with starter Vitek Vanecek hurt, so it seems quite likely Ilya Samsonov gets the nod tonight. On the season, the 24-year-old Russian netminder who debuted in 2019-20 is 3-0-1 in five games (three starts) with a 2.91 GAA and .893 save percentage.
The Caps also are likely to be without longtime standout T.J. Oshie, who played just seven games before suffering a lower-body injury, and Nicklas Backstrom, who is yet to play this season (hip).
