Blue Jackets drop fourth straight with loss to Washington Capitals
Four-game road trip ends without a victory for Columbus, which has another tough matchup Sunday at Nationwide Arena.
Brian Hedger
WASHINGTON — The growing pains continued for the Blue Jackets on Saturday night along with a growing level of frustration while failing to learn from them.
Once again, for a fifth straight game, the Blue Jackets chased the puck around the ice, were swarmed in their own zone by a stifling forecheck and didn’t gain enough sustained possession time until it was too late.
The result was a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Center for a fourth straight loss to end a brutal four-game road trip that began a week earlier with a decisive 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Another blowout loss followed Tuesday in Nashville along with a 3-2 defeat Thursday to the Dallas Stars in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score.
Several things were commonalities in each one, but the biggest was an inability to consistently outwork the opposition.
"No one’s going to give you a game,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said following the loss to the Capitals. “It’s the NHL. You’ve seen our schedule of who we’re playing. We’re playing all the top teams right now, and they’re playing well, too. No one’s going to come hand you a game. They’re not. You’ve got to go get it, and you’re going to have to find a way and grind through, not just for 10 minutes or 12 minutes. Its’ going to have to be shift after shift. We’re learning some hard lessons here.”
What’s most frustrating is the lack of evidence that any learning is taking place.
The Capitals (15-4-6) used the same gameplan against the Blue Jackets (12-10-0) as the Vancouver Canucks, Blues, Predators and Stars did in the previous four games – all but the Canucks successful in their efforts. Each one of those teams pinned Columbus into its own end of the rink for long stretches and forced turnovers in bushels. All but Vancouver made the Jackets pay a steep price for those gaffes.
The Capitals and Stars didn’t score as much as the Predators and Blues did, but they netted enough to win – including Alexander Ovechkin 750th career goal standing up as the winner. Aliaksei Protas also scored for Washington, which outshot shot Columbus 32-18 to help Ilya Samsonov (17 saves) earn a win in net.
Garnet Hathaway, who elbowed Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek to the ice without drawing a penalty late in the third, sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 1:27 left.
Eric Robinson scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who got another strong performance in net from rookie Daniil Tarasov (29 saves).
It doesn’t get any easier for the Blue Jackets on Sunday, when they’ll face the San Jose Sharks (13-10-1) at Nationwide Arena to conclude their second back-to-back in a week and play their sixth game in nine days.
“It’s hard on everybody, but you’ve got to dust yourself off and get ready for the next game, because nobody cares – other than our fans and us,” Larsen said. “We care, but the other teams? They want to kick you while you’re down. There’s no easy way through it … you have to go get it.”
Tarasov impressive again in second start for Blue Jackets
Tarasov drew his second straight start after making his NHL debut with a 34-save loss Thursday in Dallas. He was strong in that game and even better against the Capitals, making numerous high-difficulty stops against waves of Washington odd-man rushes.
Tarasov took another tough loss, but kept the Blue Jackets in a game that could’ve easily become a blowout with lesser goaltending.
“He’s a phenomenal goalie,” said forward Justin Danforth, who played with Tarasov to start this season with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. “I mean, I hear it around the room. A lot of guys come up to me and they’re like, ‘Wow, he’s a top-end goalie.’ And you could see it tonight. He wasn’t nervous at all. You’re playing against Washington, they’ve got some big shooters there and he did a great job tonight.”
Tarasov got the nod against the Capitals because Larsen wanted to give Elvis Merzlikins a practice day after a non-COVID illness kept both him and Joonas Korpisalo off the ice Thursday and Friday.
Merzlikins will start Sunday against the Sharks, while Korpisalo remains on injured reserve with the illness. Larsen said Merzlikins and Korpisalo took follow-up COVID-19 tests and both passed.
“Just like any winter season, there’s going to be flu bugs,” Larsen said. “So, we’re happy it’s just that.”
Blue Jackets lose steam with another letdown in second period
Just like they did Thursday in Dallas, the Blue Jackets lost control of the game in the second period. The Capitals outshot them 13-2 in that frame and Ovechkin scored his deciding goal early into it.
It was the seventh game in a row and 16th time in the first 22 games the Blue Jackets have been outshot.
Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen wants to see more from Jack Roslovic
Line rushes during the Blue Jackets’ morning skate included a couple surprises.
One was Justin Danforth, a 28-year old first-year forward, centering the fourth line between Yegor Chinakhov and Gregory Hofmann. The other was more notable because Jack Roslovic didn’t skate on any of the forward lines. He was a healthy scratch for the first time this season and first time since joining the Blue Jackets last season in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets.
Roslovic’s play had picked up after a slow start, but Larsen wants to address some issues in his game to see if it can spark more offensive production.
“There’s a better game for Jack,” Larsen said. “And when you’re not scoring, you’ve got to contribute in other ways. I know he’s got a better game. I’m not going to get more in-depth than that. Him and I, we’ve had some conversation, we’re going to do some video work and try and get him back to where I think he can be.”
Roslovic tallied four points (two goals, two assists) in the previous six games and has a scoring line of 3-5-8 in 20 games. He’s also faring better on faceoffs this season, winning 49% of his draws overall and 52% during 5-on-5, but his role and production have yet to mimic what he did last season.
Ovechkin notches another milestone goal against the Blue Jackets
The first time these teams met this season, a 4-3 Capitals win Nov. 12 at Nationwide Arena, Ovechkin scored the 742nd career goal of his career to pass Brett Hull for sole possession of fourth place on the NHL’s all-time list of goal-scorers.
That was now eight goals ago.
Ovechkin’s hard wrist shot sailed under Tarasov’s blocker and above his right pad into the far side of the net at 3:12 of the second period to put Washington up 2-0 on his 750th career goal. It was also his 20th goal in just 25 games this season, continuing a torrid pace in his quest to chase Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 goals. Next on the list is Jaromir Jagr, who’s in third with 766.
“I don't think a lot about this goal,” Tarasov said. “It’s just a goal. It doesn’t matter who scored. It was bad because I lose and we lost the game, but it doesn't matter. You just forget it and keep going.”
He’ll remember facing Ovechkin though.
“He’s one of the greatest players in the world, so it was good to play against him,” Tarasov said. “I saw him when I was a kid. It’s like … play against a real legend. It was good.”
Blue Jackets give Justin Danforth first shot to play center
The other side of the coin with Roslovic being scratched was Danforth staying in the lineup. Larsen likes his ‘dog on a bone’ approach as a winger and wanted to see if he could keep it up down the middle of the ice at center – a position he’d played almost exclusively prior to joining the Blue Jackets as a free agent signed out of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Danforth is 5-foot-9, 180 pounds and has great speed. Larsen wanted to see what he and Hofmann – another burner – could do while playing together on a line with Chinakhov. The trio was one of the only noticeable groups in the first two periods for Columbus and they produced the goal by Chinakhov that was negated by Hofmann’s missed offsides infraction.
“I don’t think ‘Danny’ deserves to come out,” Larsen said after the morning skate. “He’s played his tail off and he’s versatile. He can play in the middle. So, he’s been competitive, I think he’s been ‘dog on a bone,’ and it can’t all the time be (Danforth and Hofmann) coming out.”
Danforth was eager for the opportunity.
“I’m hungry to stay on the roster and stay in the lineup every night, so for me, I know what I have to do on the ice,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough night every night for me with the way I play. If I have to play physical and have to be a bit of a rat and get under guys’ skin, then that’s what I have to do. If I can bring that every night and that keeps me in, that’s good.”
Blue Jackets three stars
First star
Daniil Tarasov, goalie
Tarasov made his second straight start and was the Blue Jackets’ best player for the second straight time. Without his 29 saves, including some jaw-droppers, this game could’ve easily been a rout for the Capitals.
Second star
Justin Danforth, center
Danforth got his first chance to play center and acquitted himself well. Along with delivering three hits and winning five of seven faceoffs (71%) in 10:10 of ice time, the speedy undersized forward changed momentum with a beautiful dish to Robinson for the Jackets’ only goal.
Third star
Eric Robinson, left wing
Robinson charged to the net and made his stick available for a tap-in off Danforth’s feed from the left side of the net in the third, pulling the Blue Jackets within 2-1 early in the third. He also blocked a shot and finished with five attempts in 16:23 of ice time.
bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger