The Caps put together their best performance of the series Thursday in a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The win pulled Washington even with Columbus in the series 2-2.
Here's how the Caps got the big win.
Tom Wilson factors in the offense
Wilson’s hands are good for more than just punching. He proved that again on Thursday as he scored the first goal for the second consecutive game. Chandler Stephenson and John Carlson provided the pressure on Sergei Bobrovsky. With Bobrovsky scrambling in the crease, Evgeny Kuznetsov passed the puck back to Wilson who fired the one-timer past the Columbus netminder. In the first two games of the series, Wilson had no points and no shots. In the last two games, he has two goals and 13 shots on goal.
A great keep in by John Carlson
We saw how dangerous it is when penalty killers fail to clear the puck in Game 1 when the Caps failed to clear in the third period leading to the game-tying power play goal. In Game 4, the roles were reversed. Trying to kill off an Artemi Panarin penalty, Cam Atkinson tried to clear the puck with the backhand. Carlson skillfully corralled the puck out of the air at the blue line to keep it in the zone. The power play was able to reset and T.J. Oshie scored the rebound goal soon after.
Braden Holtby closes the door to finish the second period
After the Caps took the 2-0 lead, the Blue Jackets made a push late in the period to try to pull one back. In the last 10 minutes of the second period, Columbus had 13 shot attempts, five of which were not net. Several of those shots were high-quality opportunities, but Holtby came up with the big saves that the team was not getting earlier in the series. His play ensured the Caps took the 2-0 lead to the locker room.
Alex Ovechkin extends the lead to three
Washington entered the third period up 2-0. In each of the first three games, the Caps held a two-goal lead and allowed the Blue Jackets to battle back and tie the score. Even with a two-goal lead, it still felt at the start of the third that the next goal would decide the game. If Columbus pulled within one and got the crowd back on their side, we have seen what that momentum can do for them. This time, however, Ovechkin struck first. After a board battle behind the net, the puck trickled out to the faceoff circle. Ovechkin grabbed it and quickly snapped the puck past Bobrovsky before anyone could react. The goal gave Washington their first three-goal lead of the series and shut the Blue Jackets’ comeback down before it could begin.
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