Game 1 preview: Enough waiting, it's time for playoff hockey

EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND, GAME 1:
BLUE JACKETS (0-0-0) AT CAPITALS (0-0-0)
Location: Capital One Arena, 7:30 p.m., Thursday
TV: Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go (Jeff Rimer, Jody Shelley) -
FOX Sports Ohio channel finder
- Columbus/Lima and Cleveland areas can find the game on the main FOX Sports Ohio cable channel
- Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville/Lexington, Charleston/Huntington, Toledo areas can find the game on the alternate FOX Sports Ohio cable channels
Radio: 97.1 FM & BlueJackets.com (Bob McElligott)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The wait is nearly over.
After three days of practice, the Blue Jackets and Capitals each just want to get their first-round series started, which they'll do Thursday night.
"It is exciting," Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said. "You kind of feel the new season's coming up and all the guys are excited, so it's going to be fun."
It should be great theater, too.
There is star power on both sides, led by the Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, who can be as dangerous without the puck as he can with it. The Blue Jackets will need to track him closely in every game, making sure not to let him have anything easy, but they also can't oversell on defending "Ovi."

VISIT THE BLUE JACKETS STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB
Washington has other players to worry about, as well, up front and along the blue line. That includes centers Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom, plus defenseman John Carlson - who can also put the puck in the net.
The Blue Jackets will counter with their own stars - some young, some not as young and some older.
Rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois will center the top line, which has a lot of firepower with Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson on the wings, while the second line features a nice mixture of talent in Boone Jenner, center Alex Wennberg and veteran Thomas Vanek.
That's not to mention the top defense duo of Zach Werenski and Seth Jones, who each had 16 goals this season to set the single-season franchise record for goals by a defenseman.
Behind them all will be Sergei Bobrovsky, who's had his struggles in the postseason but also has two Vezina Trophies to his credit. It's another big challenge for the Blue Jackets, but they've got a lot more playoff experience in their locker room than they did in 2014, when they'd qualified for the postseason for just the second time ever.
This time, they're back in the playoffs for the first time in consecutive seasons, looking to advance past the first round for the time.
"I think the pressure is just in our room to make sure we play the right way, captain Nick Foligno said. "The pressure for us is to continue trying to be the team we envisioned, and that's a team that does get past the first round, does get past the second round and so on. That's the pressure within us, not from external people talking about our team. We've gone through that emotional roller-coaster before and no good comes of it. So, it's just going to be staying tight in here and understanding we have a great opportunity in front of us."
Let the fun begin.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION TO HOST FUNDRAISERS FOR HUMBOLDT BRONCOS
SEASON SERIES
The Capitals took the series by winning the first three games, going 3-1-0 and winning both games held in the nation's capital. The Blue Jackets played well in all four games, dominating shots and puck-possession, but Washington capitalized on key mistakes and scored enough timely goals to win three times. Columbus prevented a series sweep in the finale, winning 5-1 on Feb. 26 at Nationwide Arena.
All-time (W-L-T-O): 12-17-1-6 overall; 4-9-1-3 in Washington, D.C.
Playoffs:This is the first time the Blue Jackets and Capitals have met in the postseason.
WHO'S HOT
Blue Jackets: Atkinson ended the season with a nine-game point streak, which tied his career-high. He had eight goals, five assists and 13 points during the streak and had 18 goals in the Blue Jackets' final 33 games.
Capitals: Ovechkin ended the regular season on a three-game goal streak, with two goals in the Capitals' 5-3 victory Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Ovechkin had four goals in the streak and had 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in Washington's final 14 games.
ANALYTICS
Columbus
Washington
SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY
Columbus
Washington
PENALTY KILL
Columbus
Washington
SCOUTING REPORT
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE CAPITALS
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alexander Wennberg - Thomas Vanek
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Nick Foligno - Josh Anderson
Brandon Dubinsky - Mark Letestu - Matt Calvert
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Ian Cole - David Savard
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Others: Markus Hannikainen, Sonny Milano, Alex Broadhurst, Taylor Chorney, Jack Johnson, Scott Harrington, Dean Kukan, Lukas Sedlak (upper body)
CAPITALS
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov- Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie
Chandler Stephenson - Lars Eller - Devante Smith-Pelly
Brett Connolly- Chandler Stephenson - Alex Chiasson
Defensemen
Dmitri Orlov - Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny - John Carlson
Brooks Orpik - Jakub Jerabek
Goaltenders
Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Madison Bowey, Jakub Vrana, Christian Djoos, Jay Beagle