Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Capitals

The Details

BLUE JACKETS vs. CAPITALS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 11-23-2, 8th in Metropolitan
WASHINGTON: 21-13-6, 4th in Metropolitan
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7 p.m. ET
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What They're Saying

Brad Larsen has said frustration can't be part of the equation as the Blue Jackets go through the ups and downs of working through a young lineup, but the head coach wasn't happy with the way his team let Tuesday's loss get away from it.
One of the key points of strategy going into the game was to keep Ottawa's power play, which had been clicking at over 30 percent for more than a month, off the ice. Instead, Columbus took four minor penalties in the second period, with Ottawa scoring a pair of power-play goals to grab control of the game.
"You don't give yourself a chance," Larsen said postgame. "That's the problem. The first (period) was even. We had some really good looks. We don't score; that's fine. Then you get down (a man), you get down again, you get down again. There's no rhythm. You've lost some players that should be playing; some guys are overplaying. Now you're chasing it for all the wrong reasons."
Those two power-play tallies were part of a three-goal period for the Senators, who then clamped things down in the third and didn't allow the Jackets to get anything going before adding an empty-net goal to salt away the win.
A Blue Jackets team that set a franchise record with 23 comeback wins a season ago has just four this year, and Columbus is 4-18-1 when giving up the first goal in a game. With a young team, that might just be part of the deal, but the Blue Jackets would like to show a little more resilience in such situations going forward.
Being able to score more goals would help, with the Blue Jackets totaling 14 tallies in the last nine games.
"Sometimes the best wins are coming from behind," Cole Sillinger said. "We just haven't seemed to really find that this year. I think with us, we haven't scored the most goals. We are scoring one or two, maybe three goals a game. It's tough when you get down 3-0 and you're in the third and you're trying to fight back. We just have to dig a little deeper."

Know The Foe: Washington Capitals

Head coach:Peter Laviolette (Third season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.28 (10th) | Scoring defense: 2.78 (9th) | PP: 21.7 percent (17th) | PK: 80.9 percent (11th)
The narrative:Rumors of the Capitals' demise are apparently quite exaggerated. A veteran team that won the 2018 Stanley Cup -- and has playoff appearances in 14 of the last 15 seasons -- got off to a slow start but has come roaring back in recent weeks. Of course, Alex Ovechkin is leading the way, as the Russian superstar is now up to 808 career goals, second all-time in NHL history with Wayne Gretzky (894) firmly in his sights.
2022-23 leaders:You have to start with Ovechkin, who leads the team with 28 goals and 47 points, totals that tie for third and eighth in the league to this point. He's still playing 20:30 per night, too, an impressive total for a 37-year-old. Evgeny Kuznetsov is next with a 6-28-34 line, a mark which ties him for 10th in the league in assists, while Dylan Strome has an 8-20-28 line. Conor Sheary has 11 goals among his 27 points, while Erik Gustafsson leads the blue line with 21 points (six goals, 15 assists).
In net, Darcy Kuemper leads the way with 24 starts, posting a 10-9-4 record, 2.58 GAA and .916 save percentage. Charlie Lindgren has an 11-4-2 record in 18 games (16 starts), posting nearly identical totals of 2.57 and .914. The Caps are the only team in the NHL with multiple goalies with at least 10 wins.
What's new: Even without such familiar names as Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Tom Wilson (knee) and John Carlson (face), the Caps are red hot right now. Washington is 11-1-2 in its last 14 while outscoring teams 60-30 in that span, not to mention an eight-game point streak (6-0-2). Ovechkin, meanwhile, has multiple goals in three of the last five games and a total of eight tallies in that timeframe.
Trending: This is the first meeting of the Metro rivals this season. Washington won three of the four meetings a season ago, turning the series on its head, as the Blue Jackets had been 5-1-1 in the previous seven meetings.
Former CBJ:The Blue Jackets' 2014 first-round pick, Sonny Milano, has ended up in the nation's capital and has a 6-12-18 line in 27 games.

3 Keys to the Game

Shoot the puck: The Blue Jackets passed up some grade-A looks against Ottawa to make passes instead. While we love the unselfishness, sometimes you just have to get a shot on goal.
Handle the swings: An issue for Columbus this year has been letting teams play into their strengths; Tuesday in Ottawa, it was allowing the Sens to get on the power play. The Jackets can't let things snowball like that
Elvis is back: The CBJ goalie will start for the first time since Dec. 13. Teammates can help make his job easier with their performance in front of him, but it's also a chance for the netminder to get on a run here.

3 Stats to Know

• Johnny Gaudreau finished the calendar year of 2022 with 119 points, the third most in the NHL during the year and the third most ever for an American-born player. His 81 assists were the second most by a United States-born player in a single year, trailing only Craig Janney's 82 in 1992.
• Rookie wing Kirill Marchenko has goals in three of the last five games and five goals in 13 games since making his NHL debut. He has the most goals among NHL rookies since that debut.
• Milestone watch: Jack Roslovic is two points from 100 for his CBJ career (37-61-98, 162 GP). … Joonas Korpisalo is two games from 200 for his NHL career (81-74-22, 198 GP).

Who's Hot

Gaudreau posted 13 assists during December to tie a CBJ record for the month (Artemi Panarin, 2017). … He ranks tied for fifth in the NHL in assists since Nov. 10 with 5-23-28 in 23 contests. … Emil Bemstrom has goals in two of three games since being recalled from Cleveland. … After posting 1-2-3 in the last three games, defenseman Marcus Bjork is tied for second among NHL rookie blueliners in points per game (minimum 10 games) and goals with 3-7-10 in 23 appearances (0.43 points per game). … Korpisalo has posted a .945 save percentage and 1.80 GAA over his last five appearances since Dec. 9. … Roslovic has a 2-11-13 line in the last 15 games and is plus-3 in that time period. … Kent Johnson has an 8-8-16 line on the season, placing him fourth among NHL rookies in goals and tied for ninth in points this season. … CBJ rookies have an 18-21-39 line this year, the most goals and fourth in points among rookies on NHL teams.

This Day in CBJ History

Jan. 5, 2007: For just the second time in team history, the Blue Jackets rally from a three-goal third-period deficit to beat Anaheim by a 4-3 score at the Honda Center. Columbus scores three times in a span of 1:54 capped by Manny Malhotra's game winner with 1:20 left in the period. Goaltender Fredrik Norrena preserves the win by stopping Teemu Selanne's penalty shot attempt at the 19:39 mark.
Jan. 5, 2017: Washington pulls away to a 5-0 victory against the Blue Jackets, ending the team's franchise record 16-game winning streak. It went down in the books as the second longest in NHL history.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Kent Johnson - Emil Bemstrom
Gustav Nyquist - Jack Roslovic - Patrik Laine
Carson Meyer - Sean Kuraly - Mathieu Olivier
Liam Foudy - Cole Sillinger - Kirill Marchenko
Vladislav Gavrikov - Andrew Peeke
Tim Berni - Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratches: Eric Robinson (upper body injury, day to day), Marcus Bjork, Daniil Tarasov (upper body injury, day to day)
Injured reserve:Nick Blankenburg (ankle, out six to eight weeks as of Nov. 11); Boone Jenner (thumb surgery, out four weeks as of Dec. 19); Yegor Chinakhov (high ankle sprain, out six weeks as of Dec. 21); Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Jakub Voracek (upper body, out indefinitely); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report:The Blue Jackets will make two changes to the skater lineup, with Meyer and Peeke going in for Robinson and Bjork, while Merzlikins gets the start in net.