Columbus Blue Jackets @ Washington Capitals: 11/18/23 Game Recap

It was a big night in Washington. The Capitals hosted their Hockey Fights Cancer night tonight like we did Thursday. Beyond this, for the Columbus Blue Jackets, our Captain, Boone Jenner, would overtake Rick Nashe's Franchise Record for most games played in a CBJ Jersey. In addition to this, Johnny Gaudreau would also mark his 700th game in the NHL tonight. If that isn't enough for you, we still have 60 minutes of hockey to recap, so let's go!

After a 0-0 first period, Johnny Gaudreau would finally get a puck past a goalie this season! This goal would be scored at 3:27, and we'd have a 1-0 lead on the road. Boone Jenner, a man of the evening, would gain his third season assist on this Gaudreau goal. Also, Damon Severson would have the secondary assist, giving him a total of five. Unfortunately, former Blue Jacket Sonny Milano would even the odds with a goal at 5:05. This was followed by a goal by Aliaksei Protas at 13:16 and then another by the living legend Alex Ovechkin before the period ended. So, for as fast as we were up 1-0, we were suddenly down 3-1 in this intense twenty minutes. However, we still have one more period to play in the D.C. capital, which was good. 

7:01 into period 3, Ivan Proverov would push for his first goal of the season! The only assist on his goal would become Cole Sillinger's sixth this season. The Capitals did challenge this because they thought Mathieu Olivier interfered with their goalie's (Charlie Lindgren's) ability to stop it. Believe it or not, their challenge would be unsuccessful, and we'd keep our goal and get a bonus powerplay. That powerplay wouldn't amount to a goal, though, and the two teams would play on. Then we'd hit 13:32, and Hendrix Lapierre would pick up a bad pass by Patrik Laine and slip it past Elvis Merzlikins, giving the Capitals a 4-3 lead. Now, you've learned nothing if you turned off the game and wrote this off as a loss with over 5 minutes left! At 15:48, Justin Danforth would put up the Blue Jackets' third goal of the evening and his fifth overall this season! A second assist for Sean Kuraly would come on this goal, while Zach Werenski would hit double digits with ten this season. The Capitals would give us a powerplay, but they'd manage to eek away with a 4-3 home victory. 

Congrats to Johnny Gaudreau on his Third Star tonight, thanks to his goal. 

I've said this before, and I'll keep saying it so long as it's true: this team is competing, and it's a refreshing turn from last season. The Capitals kept pushing, and we pushed right back. I know we lost. I know we didn't get a point tonight. That said, this team just needs to get past the slim loss to a definitive win. It'll happen this season and be so sweet when it does.

We play more hockey in less than 24 hours, 5th Line. We travel from D.C. to Philadelphia to face John Tortorella and the Flyers at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow evening!  

Go CBJ!   






     

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