COLUMBUS, Ohio – The promise of a 2-0 series lead for the Columbus Blue Jackets evaporated Monday night as the Washington Capitals completed a four-game rally with a 6-3 win to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After winning the first two games of the series in Washington, in overtime, the Jackets were unable to find a solution to the Caps’ game plan.
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Braden Holtby was one of the issues the Jackets were unable to solve after he reclaimed the starting role in goal; he made 35 saves to get the series-clinching win.
“He stepped in and did a great job,” T.J. Oshie said of Holtby. “We put (Grubauer) in some tough situations before that, but Holtby came in and did an unbelievable job.”
Alex Ovechkin struck twice for the Caps.
“This series was very fun to play and very fun to watch,” Ovechkin said. “It was lots of hockey. A bit unlucky in the first two overtimes. We got lucky in the third one. In overtime, no one knows.”
Dmitri Orlov, Devante Smith-Pelly, Chandler Stephenson and Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals.
“We’ve grown up in some way.” Capitals head coach Barry Trotz said. “We understand our core group is really, really strong. They believe in each other.”
Washington managed to take a 3-1 lead before the end of the second period.
“They put on really good period of hockey, one of the hardest periods of hockey I’ve played. Credit to them, they were coming. They were working like they didn’t want an end to their season. They pushed us,” Holtby said after the Game 6 win.
Nick Foligno scored two goals and Pierre-Luc Dubois added a goal in the Columbus loss.
“I was not expecting the outcome to be the way it was tonight,” Foligno said.
DuBois scored early in the third to get the Jackets to within 3-2 but Stephenson scored shorthanded and the goal took the air out of the Nationwide Arena.
“It was tough to recover. They were pretty stingy through the series how well they defended,” Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said.
WATCH: All Capitals vs. Blue Jackets highlights | Complete Capitals vs. Blue Jackets series coverage]
Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves in the loss.
“The better team won. They made bigger plays at key times. Our power play started well, faded a bit. Theirs got better,” Tortorella said after the loss.
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
Photo By: Brianna O’Mara
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