Sting of double OT loss will fade, but experience Jackets gained won't

The game-winning goal had just unfolded right in front of his eyes.
Trailing the play, chugging up ice, there was nothing Josh Anderson could do about it. His last few strides, nine minutes into double overtime Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena, had to feel like skating in mud.
There was a shot from the left wing off a 3-on-2, taken by Washington Capitals forward Brett Connolly. There was a save made by Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, a rebound in the crease and then a lit goal lamp behind the net, ending the longest playoff game in Blue Jackets history on a bounce the Capitals desperately needed.
After 89 minutes of intense hockey, the kind only the Stanley Cup Playoffs can generate, Washington had its first victory in this Eastern Conference First Round series, pulling within a game of Columbus, 2-1, with a 3-2 win 9:00 into the second overtime.
Anderson, who saw the puck deflect off Lars Eller's left skate and go into the net, took out his frustrations with a two-handed whack at the left post, instantly snapping his stick in two.
It was the exact opposite feeling the Blue Jackets had felt in the first two games, which they won in overtime on the Capitals' home ice at Capital One Center. Turnabout had to seem like unfair play, as the largest crowd in Nationwide Arena's playoff history (19,337) was silenced after rocking the building with high decibel levels most of the game.
"It's fun to play in," said captain Nick Foligno, who won 73 percent of his face-offs and logged the most minutes in a game he's ever played for Columbus (26:04). "These are the games you envision as a kid, right? You've got the chance to be the overtime hero, tight checking and they're fun. I mean, no one wants to give an inch, no one wants to be the guy that makes the mistake, so I think we're learning about ourselves a lot through this and how we handle it. I thought we handled it well tonight. It's a game of inches and on this night, we were on the other side of it."

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They got a taste of what the Capitals felt in the first two games, hitting the goal posts or crossbar at least four times and shaking their heads afterward - including a shot by Cam Atkinson 48 seconds into a power play with 3:30 left in the first OT.
It almost mirrored what happened to Capitals defenseman John Carlson in Game 2, when he rung a shot off the left post just 21 seconds before regulation ended in a 3-3 tie. Inches often decide hockey games, especially in the playoffs, and thus far this series is a shining example.
It's started with three straight overtime games and there's a feeling more could be in store. All have been, or will be, chances for each team to grow.
"You learn from it, you know?" Foligno said. "This is what playoff hockey is. It's not always going to go your way. But we've put ourselves in a real good spot by going in there [in Washington] and stealing two. They're, I'm sure, fully planning on doing that to us, but we're going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen."
Neither team is willing to give an inch, which has made for three pulse-pounding games.
Columbus has outscored Washington by a total of 11-10, the largest lead has been two goals on three separate occasions for the Capitals and the star players on each side are matching each other great play for great play.
If you're looking for areas of concern for Columbus, it starts with the absence of Alex Wennberg, who's missed the past two games with an upper-body injury that occurred when he was struck in the head in Game 1 by Capitals forward Tom Wilson.
Wennberg hasn't played the past two games and the Jackets' puck-possession numbers have dropped significantly. They overcame it in Game 2 by counter-punching with some outstanding, high-end skill plays, but it caught up to them Tuesday night.
Despite playing better overall, the Jackets were outshot by a significant margin for the second straight game (45-35) and took less than 50 percent of all 5-on-5 shot attempts (48-51, 48.5 percent).
It was most noticeable in the second OT, which the Capitals controlled.
According to naturalstattrick.com, Washington took nine more 5-on-5 attempts (13-4, 76.5 percent), put six more shots on goal (8-2), created seven more scoring chances (8-1) and had the only four high-danger chances in that period (4-0).
Wennberg's only one guy, and he's had his own offensive struggles this season, but he usually drives possession numbers the right way and his presence in the middle of a line with Boone Jenner and Thomas Vanek balances the lineup.
When he's playing, Columbus has two consistent scoring lines, plus a third line centered by Foligno that can score too. The fourth line when Wennberg's healthy has veterans three wide across the ice, with Matt Calvert on a wing and two pivots, Mark Letestu and Brandon Dubinsky, sharing center responsibilities.
Without Wennberg, Dubinsky and Calvert moved up to the third line and Letestu's been flanked with rookie Sonny Milano and Oliver Bjorkstrand - whose skills and body styles aren't a great match for the physical, grind-it-out nature of a fourth line in the postseason.
The result has been more of a three-line rotation the past two games, as Tortorella kept his fourth line parked on the bench for long stretches.
It's not the ideal way to play against a team like Washington, which has a lot more to worry about than just Alexander Ovechkin, but that's just how the playoffs work for virtually every team involved, not just Columbus.
It's an attrition contest and the team that hoists the Stanley Cup, ultimately, is the last one able to stand - the team that figures out ways to win. That's been the Blue Jackets most of this season and they don't plan on changing now.
They've still got a lot of firepower in the lineup and still have Bobrovsky, who's had an excellent start to the series in net.
"We've got to give ourselves a little credit too," Foligno said. "I sound like a broken record talking about other teams, but we're a [real] good team in here and we've proven that. So, have the confidence to go out there on Thursday and know that we can do the job - and move one inch closer to what we really want."