Caps Clash with Columbus
The Jackets come to the District for a Saturday night Metro Division skirmish
Washington's season-long four-game homestand continues on Saturday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets come to town for the first of their two visits this season. The game marks the Jackets' first trip into the District in nearly two years, since the Caps trimmed Columbus 2-1 in overtime here on Dec. 27, 2019.
The Caps opened up the homestand on Thursday against Chicago, suffering a 4-3 shootout setback in a game in which they held a 3-2 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third. It was the third time in the last three games that Washington lost hold of a lead in the third period; the Caps came out of those games with a 1-1-1 record.
"I think we have a good team here and we're not in a panic mode," says Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov. "But for sure you have to manage the puck and manage the game in the right way when you are up one goal, two goals, or whatever in the third period. We have a veteran group here, and I think we're going to be good."
With Thursday's shootout loss, the Caps claimed a point, maintaining their streak of not going more than a game without collecting a point this season.
"It's still frustrating," says Caps winger Garnet Hathaway. "I didn't think we played our best hockey in the first. I think guys would agree with that. I think we thought maybe they're an inferior team. But they're playing a lot better than I think they were at the beginning of the year and they deserved to win that first period.
"I thought we fought back in the second. I thought we made it a good game. We'll digest it tonight, we'll talk about it in practice [on Friday]. A point's a point; it's better than zero, obviously. But we're a good enough team that we need to fight for two points every night."
On Friday, the Caps conducted a noon practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Although Nic Dowd (COVID-19 protocol), John Carlson (maintenance) and Hathaway (maintenance) were absent from the session, three players who've missed time with injuries this season were on the ice with their teammates for the first time in a while. Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (lower body) and Conor Sheary (upper body) were all on the ice on Friday.
Backstrom has yet to play this season while Oshie has played in only eight of Washington's 24 games to date. Sheary has missed the last six games. All three have been cleared to give and receive contact, and both Oshie and Sheary practiced with the Caps' top power play unit, an indication that they might be able to play on Saturday if there were no setbacks from their participation on Friday.
"Well it was great to have them out there and be able to compete," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of the trio of skaters. "I'm not saying this to lead you one way or the other, but Oshie and Sheary have been part of the group the entire year, and Backy has been working towards something. It just so happened that today they all kind of came back together, which is really good.
"The guys that have been playing all along are probably close [to returning], and Backy we're still going to go in and talk and make sure that things are good. We don't want to put him in a situation where he is not ready for something.
"It's great to see him out there. Just watching him out there and seeing a smile on his face, which, when you're at the beginning of rehab the smile isn't always there. It's more the work and what you're dealing with and going through things. You see him out there today and it's just great to have him out there. It's positive for our group to see him out there competing and battling in drills, and it's just a really good day for that."
Laviolette also cautioned that Carlson, Dowd and Hathaway were also missing from Friday's session for a reason, and that the status of those players is murky as of Friday afternoon. The Caps announced late on Friday afternoon that Dowd was in COVID-19 protocol.
The Caps have lost 77 man-games because of injury or illness this season, though they did get defenseman Justin Schultz back in the lineup for Thursday's game against Chicago. Following a rugged November in which they spent more than 17 days on the road and played 10 of 15 games on the road, the Caps are hoping December brings better team health.
"It was a tough November," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "I think the guys did an amazing job collecting points and collecting wins. Anytime you got that caliber of guys back in the lineup, it's going to help. When they come back and they're ready, they're going to help the team and that's it. That's a no-brainer; they're amazing players. We're excited for that day when they're ready to go."
Columbus concludes a four-game road trip on Saturday in D.C. They've dropped each of the first three games on the journey in St. Louis, Nashville and Dallas, respectively, so they figure to be desperate on Saturday when they play the Caps in the front end of a set of back-to-backs.
The Jackets head home to host San Jose on Sunday, and then they head right back onto the road on Tuesday in Toronto. The Blue Jackets will play 10 games between now and the holiday break, with seven of those contests coming on the road.
Twenty-one games into their season, the Jackets rank ninth in the NHL with an average of 3.19 goals per game. But Columbus gives up 3.24 goals per game on average, ranking 26th in the circuit.
Washington downed the Jackets in Columbus 4-3 on Nov. 12 in the first meeting between the two Metropolitan Division rivals this season. At that time, the Jackets were in the midst of a four-game homestand that was spread over a span of nearly two weeks, and with back-to-back home games making up the middle of that four-game run. With its back-to-back games this weekend, Columbus is finishing up a grinding run of 11 games in 19 nights. The Jackets are 5-4-0 since that stretch got underway.
