A three-goal first period by the visiting Washington Capitals took the wind out of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ sails Saturday night.
The result was a 4-0 shut out by the Caps.
Braden Holtby made 28 saves to get the win.
Alex Ovechkin extended his point streak to 11 games – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
“Our team knows you can’t play a soft game against them because they’ll turn it the other way quick,” Holtby said.
Alex Ovechkin extended his point streak to 11 games with a goal and assist.
The Caps improved to 17-9-3.
“It was a great team effort,” Jaskin said. “Everybody was on the same page and knew what we wanted to do. The result speaks for itself.”
Brett Connolly, Dmitrij Jaskin and Travis Boyd added goals for Washington.
“They played the right way,” Columbus forward Nick Foligno said. “We were flat in the first and got caught watching. When they get the lead, they know how to win. They do the simple things. They make it hard on you. They make you go through five guys.”
Columbus dropped to 16-11-2.
“We know this is one of the better forechecking teams in the League. We had a pretty good plan to go back for pucks. We were able to execute because they’re so aggressive on the forecheck [and] you can take advantage of the odd-man rushes, and we did tonight,” Caps head coach Todd Reirden said after the win.
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Sergei Bobrovsky got the start for Columbus but made just 10 saves in the fist period; he was given the hook in the fist intermission.
“I was not going to have [Bobrovsky] eat more goals the way we were playing in front of him,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.
Joonas Korpisalo made 14 saves through the final 40 minutes of play..
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