PREVIEW: Blue Jackets end 25th season vs. Capitals

After Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Boston, head coach Rick Bowness described his team as “heartbroken.” Center Adam Fantilli described it as a “gut shot.” 

Things didn’t get any better Monday. 

For the second time in as many years, the Blue Jackets go into game No. 82 tonight having had their playoff hopes dashed the night before. Philadelphia’s 3-2 shootout victory last night over Carolina clinched a postseason bid for the Flyers and officially extended Columbus’ stretch without playoff hockey to six consecutive seasons.  

What will be most frustrating is the Blue Jackets had the opportunity to get there, rising to as high as second in the Metropolitan Division in late March, but the loss to Boston moved Columbus to 3-8-1 in its last 12 games.  

There will be many culprits for the team’s demise – key injuries to Damon Severson and Mathieu Olivier in the past few weeks, struggling special teams down the stretch, a third-period goal differential that is second worst in the NHL – but none more so in the final games as an inability to finish.  

Columbus has scored more than two goals just four times in the last 12 contests, including Sunday against Boston when the team pushed early in the game and then down late but couldn’t find the goals they needed.  

“There were three opportunities right in front of (the goalie) that we missed the net on,” Bowness said of the dying minutes vs. Boston when the team needed a goal. “We had some grade A’s right in front, so that goes back to what I said earlier, execution. We’re all alone in front of the net with him. You can’t ask for some of the better chances that we had tonight, we just didn’t capitalize.” 

Columbus will host a Washington team tonight that also saw its playoff hopes end last night, and the goal will be to deliver 60 minutes to send the 25th season of CBJ hockey out on the right note. At times, that’s been the biggest issue for the Blue Jackets, who are fifth in the NHL in time spent leading and fourth in the least time trailing but won’t advance to postseason hockey. 

Sunday’s game vs. Boston was another sign of that, as Columbus couldn’t capitalize on key moments like taking a 1-0 lead in the first four minutes and tying the game on Fantilli’s goal early in the third period.  

“I feel like we were prepared and worked and were probably the better team for 60 minutes,” defenseman Zach Werenski said. “But it’s just certain plays, certain moments in the game, like understanding time or circumstances or long changes or shifts or whatever it is. Those are the little moments within a game and within a season that can come back to hurt you. I feel like maybe that had to go up a little bit.”

Scratches: Zach Aston-Reese, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Mathieu Olivier (upper body injury), Dmitri Voronkov (upper body injury), Jake Christiansen, Damon Severson (shoulder surgery, out for season) 

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)      

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets were off Monday after the back-to-back over the weekend, so we'll find out pregame if there are any lineup changes.  

This Day in CBJ History  

April 14, 2019: The Blue Jackets push their series lead to 3-0 against Tampa Bay, downing the Presidents’ Trophy winners by a 3-1 score in front of 19,224 fans in Nationwide Arena. Matt Duchene and Oliver Bjorkstrand score in the second period, while Cam Atkinson adds an empty-net goal to ice Game 3 of the first-round playoff series. Sergei Bobrovsky makes 30 stops.  

The Numbers Game  

Zach Werenski has moved into fourth place in CBJ single-season annals with 81 points this year. With 22 goals and 59 assists – tied for the franchise record – he is tied for third among NHL defensemen in goals and second in points. He is just the third American-born defensemen to have consecutive 80-point seasons, joining Hall of Famers Brian Leetch and Phil Housley, and just the second active NHL blueliner (Cale Makar) to reach 80 points in back-to-back years. He leads NHL defensemen with a CBJ-record 26 multipoint games. ... With 13 goals, Denton Mateychuk is sixth all-time among CBJ defensemen in a single season. He is the third CBJ D to reach that mark (Werenski, four times; Seth Jones, once). ... Adam Fantilli has posted a 12-17-29 line in the last 31 contests. He has set a new career high in points with 59. ... Kirill Marchenko is second in the NHL with six shootout goals and has eight points in the last eight games (2-6-8). He is the fifth CBJ player with consecutive 25-goal seasons. ... Charlie Coyle has 14 goals and 33 points in the past 37 games, while Mason Marchment has eight points in his last seven contests (2-6-8). ... Jet Greaves is 14-6-3 in his last 24 appearances with a 2.45 GAA. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 58 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. … Columbus has scored first in 49 of 81 games overall, second behind Washington (50) for the most in the NHL. ... Jenner has 211 career goals, two behind Cam Atkinson for second in team history. ... Coyle (fourth, 410) and Provorov (seventh, 374) are both in the top 10 among active NHLers in consecutive games played. With 245 consecutive games played for the CBJ, Provorov is second in franchise history. ... Miles Wood is one goal from 100 and four points from 200 in his NHL career. 

Know The Foe: Washington Capitals     

Head coach: Spencer Carbery (Third season)       

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.20 (14th) | Scoring defense: 2.93 (T-11th) | PP: 17.6 percent (26th) | PK: 80.0 percent (13th)        

The narrative: Is this it? The Caps have said goodbye to such franchise players as Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson over the past few years, but there would be nothing comparable to the potential retirement of Alex Ovechkin. The league’s all-time leading goal scorer has given no indications if his 21st season will be his last, but there is the potential this game will be it. If so, it’s fitting it will come against Columbus, the franchise he began his career against with two goals in his debut back in 2005.  

Scoring leaders: One reason it might be hard to believe Ovechkin is on his way out is he continues to be an impactful player, as at age 40, he’s played in every game and leads the Caps with 32 goals and 63 points. Tom Wilson follows right behind, as the power forward has posted a 31-30-61 line in 70 games, while Jacob Chychrun leads all NHL defensemen with 25 goals among his 59 points. Dylan Strome (19-39-58) and Aliaksei Protas (25-27-52) have also led the charge the past couple of seasons.  

In net: After splitting starts a year ago with Charlie Lindgren, Logan Thompson has emerged as the team’s No. 1 this season and is tied for second in the NHL with 58 starts, going 31-21-6 with a 2.44 GAA and .912 save percentage. Lindgren has battled injuries at times this year and is 9-8-3 with a 3.52 GAA and .879 SV%.  

What's new: The Capitals looked at the math at the trade deadline and figured it was time to sell, sending Carlson – who is second in franchise history in games played with 1,105 – to Anaheim and veteran center Nic Dowd to Vegas. Washington caught fire and is 11-5-2 – including wins in seven of the last nine – since the deadline, but their playoff hopes were extinguished last night. Ovechkin has eight goals in that span, while rookie forward Ryan Leonard leads the team with nine, and 19-year-old defenseman Cole Hutson has posted a 3-7-10 line in his first 13 games after finishing his season with Boston University. 

Trending: Washington is already 3-0 against the Blue Jackets on the season, including a 5-1 win in Nationwide Arena on Oct. 24, and the Blue Jackets are just 4-11-3 in the series the past five seasons.     

Former CBJ: After a 66-point campaign a year ago, Pierre-Luc Dubois has missed a big chunk of the season to injury, posting a 5-14-29 line in 19 games. Sonny Milano has a 4-4-8 line in 31 games and is currently with Hershey (AHL).