Blue Jackets at Capitals
Alex Ovechkin thrilled Washington Capitals fans when his guarantee rang true of the Eastern Conference first-round series being even at two wins apiece against the Columbus Blue Jackets when it returns to the District of Columbia for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon. While Ovechkin altered the course of the series, the Capitals hope to change the narrative of the road team emerging victorious in all four contests thus far.
Washington's top line quieted Nationwide Arena in Thursday's 4-1 victory, with Evgeny Kuznetsov collecting a goal and three assists while Ovechkin notched his third straight multi-point performance by joining Tom Wilson in registering one of each to make good on his guarantee. "There was no other option," goaltender Braden Holtby said of the team's mindset to even the series. "Our goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and that's what we viewed as our best chance after losing the first two. We've been a confident group all year - I think that's been our strongest asset - so I don't think we've ever doubted ourselves." Now that doubt may shuffle over to Columbus, which saw its first series lead in franchise history erased on home ice after the team "laid an egg" in Game 4 -- in the estimation of coach John Tortorella. "It seems like the home rink isn't too kind right now in the series. Hopefully we can jump on them in their barn again," captain Nick Foligno said.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBC or NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, TVAS
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS: Cam Atkinson and former Calder Trophy recipient Artemi Panarin saw their respective 12- and eight-game point streaks come to a halt on Thursday, with the latter looking out of sorts with two penalties after being whistled for just 26 penalty minutes in 81 contests this season. Boone Jenner scored his team's lone goal in Game 4, but the 24-year-old has lamented his team's slow starts after surrendering the first tally in each contest this series. "We want to score the first one, obviously," Jenner said. "It hasn't been like that, but I think our starts have been there. (On Thursday), I don't think it was. That first period, we didn't get much pressure on them and kind of played into their hands a little bit."
ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Defenseman John Carlson has continued his torrid pace following a career-best 68 points (15 goals, 53 assists) during the regular season with an NHL-high seven of his eight points coming on the power play. "He always raises his game in playoffs. ... Pressure doesn't affect him and that's one of his biggest assets and I think that's why we lean on him so heavy in playoffs," Holtby said of the 28-year-old, who is riding a six-game point streak (one goal, nine assists) and has logged 28:10 of ice time in the series. T.J. Oshie scored in the second period on Thursday to give Washington a power-play goal in each of its first four contests in the series and improve to 10-for-29 in the last seven games.
OVERTIME
1. Washington LW Andre Burakovsky will miss the remainder of this series after undergoing "minor surgery" for an upper-body injury sustained after a hit from Jenner in Game 2, coach Barry Trotz said.
2. Columbus C Alexander Wennberg (upper body) skated on Friday morning but is uncertain to play in Game 5.
3. Nine of the last 13 games in the all-time series between the two teams have been decided by a single goal.