Round 1 - Game 3
Blue Jackets lead series 2-0
Tue. April 17 Washington Capitals @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Place: Nationwide Arena
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: NBCSWA, NBCSN, SN360, TVAS, FS-O
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM for Live Box Score
Columbus Blue Jackets 97-44-28-9 Last Game: Apr 15 Won 5-4 Against Capitals
Washington Capitals 105-49-26-7 Last Game: Apr 15 Lost 5-4 Against Blue Jackets
8-Ovechkin 92-Kuznetsov 43-Wilson
13-Vrana 19-Bäckström 77-Oshie
10-Connolly 20-Eller 25-Smith-Pelly
39-Chiasson 83-Beagle 18-Stephenson
6-Kempny 74-Carlson
9-Orlov 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik 29-Djoos
70-Holtby (starter)
31-Grubauer
-- SCRATCH --
65-Burakovsky ("upper-body" injury)
63-Gersich
72-Boyd
64-Pinho
28-Jerabek
22-Bowey
1-Copley
-- INJURED RESERVE --
-- 1st Powerplay Unit --
20-Eller 19-Bäckström 92-Kuznetsov
8-Ovechkin 74-Carlson
-- 2nd Powerplay Unit --
13-Vrana 18-Stephenson 10-Connolly
2-Niskanen 9-Orlov
Referees: Steve Kozari (#40), Brian Pochmara (#16)
Linesmen: Pierre Racicot (#65), Tony Sericolo (#84)
Columbus’s expected lineupForwards Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Nick Foligno - Thomas Vanek
Sonny Milano - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert - Mark Letestu - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Defensemen Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Ian Cole - David Savard
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky (starter)
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratches:
Markus Hannikainen
Alex Broadhurst
Taylor Chorney
Jack Johnson
Scott Harrington
Dean Kukan
Lukas Sedlak (upper body)
Alexander Wennberg (upper body)
1st PeriodNone
2nd Period05:52 GOAL 43-Wilson, assists 2-Niskanen & 8-Ovechkin 1-0 WSH
11:18 Jackets GOAL Dubois 1-1 TIE
14:43 PP GOAL 74-Carlson, assists 19-Bäckström & 8-Ovechkin 2-1 WSH
3rd Period04:12 Jackets GOAL Panarin 2-2 TIE
OT1None
OT209:00 GOAL 20-Eller, assists 10-Connolly & 25-Smith-Pelly 3-2 WSH
FINAL: 3-2 WSH
by Isabelle Khurshudyan, Roman Stubbs and Mike Hume April 17 at 12:54 PM
Capitals-Blue Jackets playoffs Game 3: Braden Holtby back in net
Can the Capitals come back from a 2-0 hole on the road? (Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Game 3
Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets
Series: Columbus leads, 2-0
7:30 p.m. ET, Nationwide Arena
TV: NBCSWA, NBCSN, SN360, TVAS, FS-O
- Washington will be without winger Andre Burakovsky for at least the next two games. (Read More)
- Braden Holtby will be back in net for the Capitals on Tuesday. (Read More)
- The Capitals have climbed out of a series deficit like this one before. (Read More)
Top pregame story lines
Burakovsky out: The Capitals’ top-six forward corps has yet to score an even-strength goal this series, a big reason for the team’s 2-0 series hole. Now the unit will have to replace Burakovsky for at least the next two games in Columbus; he suffered an undisclosed “upper-body” injury late in the first period and didn’t play the rest of the game. Coach Barry Trotz said Burakovsky didn’t travel with the team to Columbus, and he’s expected to “miss some time.” He’d been playing well beside center Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie with three goals and three assists in his last eight games, and his absence means 22-year-old rookie Jakub Vrana will draw back into the lineup. He was a healthy scratch in Game 2, despite tallying a primary assist in Game 1, and though Trotz occasionally worries about his defensive play, Vrana’s speed brings a lot of offensive upside.
Penalties: It’s been an unusually special teams-heavy start to the series. Washington has been on a power play 13 times, while Columbus has had a man-advantage eight times. Both teams have capitalized — the Capitals have five power-play goals and the Blue Jackets have four — but both teams also understand the need for more discipline. In Washington’s case, the penalty kill has struggled so far, and Columbus has twice come back from a two-goal deficit and tied the game while on a power play. The Blue Jackets were one of the least penalized teams in the regular season, and it’s unlikely the Capitals will get as many calls go their way when they’re on the road. But Washington has had the better of the even-strength chances, and staying out of the box could help the team find a rhythm in that area.
[Caps, Nats and Wizards could pull off a D.C. sports trifecta (or a D.C. sports cry-fecta)]
Two-game guarantee: This wouldn’t be the first time the Capitals rallied from being down 2-0 in a series to win, and captain Alex Ovechkin seemed confident Washington will do so again. The Capitals recovered from that kind of deficit in the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, but they ultimately fell in Game 7 at home.
“We’re going to bounce back,” Ovechkin said Tuesday. “We’re going to come back home for Game 5, and Game 5, it’s going to be tied. And it’s going to be start over again.”
Players to watch
Braden Holtby: Trotz tabbed Philipp Grubauer to start the series, an understandable choice at the time with how Grubauer had outplayed Holtby down the stretch of the season. But then Gruabuer was pulled through two periods on Sunday night, allowing four goals on 22 shots, and considering the Capitals have allowed nine goals through two games, a change in net to Holtby was the right call. He’s got the second-best all-time career postseason save percentage, but it’s unclear how Holtby will respond to getting the starting job back. He was 5-1-0 in the last six games he started with a .911 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average. The two-time Vezina Trophy finalist, winner of the award in 2016, has had the worst season of his career: a .907 save percentage and a 2.99 goals against average.
Cam Atkinson: Atkinson scored two goals in Columbus’s 5-4 overtime win, and the 28-year-old has already matched his three-point output from five playoff games last year in just two this season. After Atkinson scored a career-high 35 goals last season, he missed 17 games this season because of a foot injury, and he finished with 24 goals. But he finished strong with 14 goals and 11 assists in the final 20 games of the season, and now he’s part of a Blue Jackets’ top line that’s given the Capitals some fits to start the series.
Pregame prep
Immerse yourself in the Capitals’ postseason with The Post’s coverage of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
History not on Caps’ side, but they’ve erased 2-0 hole against John Tortorella before
As Capitals run into another ‘hot goalie,’ they face their own net dilemma
Penalties are a problem for Capitals, but a different stat could signal disaster
Capitals’ Andre Burakovsky will miss at least two games with upper-body injury
Sergei Bobrovsky is ‘dead on his game’ as Columbus staggers Washington in Game 2
Barry Svrluga: If the Capitals don’t get smarter, it soon will be too late for them to learn their lesson
In Game 2, Capitals blew a two-goal lead again. Lose in OT again.
Capitals’ Kuznetsov, Blue Jackets’ Panarin shared a rink in Russia and the NHL playoff spotlight
The Capitals and Blue Jackets are already bloody. There could be more to come.
Barry Svrluga: It’s the Capitals. It’s the playoffs. And ‘easy’ just isn’t in the vocabulary.
The Capitals preach quality over quantity when it comes to shots. Here’s what they mean.
Barry Svrluga: For Capitals’ Barry Trotz, the future is at stake in these Stanley Cup playoffs
