Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Washington Capitals 4

The last two players any struggling team’s goalie wants to see coming up the ice towards them are Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Unfortunately for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the NHL schedule doesn’t afford them a choice in the matter.

Coming off of a heart-wrenching loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in which the Jackets gave up a 3-1 lead with under three minutes remaining, Columbus looked to rebound against Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals.

Washington kicked off the scoring with a goal on a wrister by Nicklas Backstrom. 
From that point on, Jackets’ captain Rick Nash put the team on his back and refused to lose.

He scored the Jackets’ first goal on a backhander in the second period. Nash then assisted on R.J. Umberger’s goal to give Columbus the lead on the power play.
In the third, Washington struck back with two goals by Brooks Laich and another by Quentin Laing.

Raffi Torres came up with two goals of his own, including the equalizer in which Columbus had an empty net with twenty-three seconds remaining.

In overtime, former OSU player Umberger scored again on a gorgeous assist from Nash to end the Jackets’ struggle. Columbus finally dispelled the stretch of bad luck that seemed to be plaguing them.
     
Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 3 (SO)

When you are being picked on and pushed around, the code of the schoolyard demands that you call out the biggest, baddest dude on the block and bloody his nose to re-establish your toughness.

So with the Blue Jackets coming into Friday’s game losers of four of their last five and having given up 26 goals during that stretch, they looked to prove themselves against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But there’s a reason that the bully is feared.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, leading 3-1 in the third period, seemed to be getting the better of the fight until the Penguins got up off the mat, dusted themselves off and, with three minutes remaining in regulation, delivered a two-goal combination that sent the game into overtime.

After five minutes of overtime saw both combatants still standing, Pittsburgh’s center Sidney Crosby delivered the knockout punch on the Penguins’ second shot of the shootout. The Jackets’ Kristian Huselius couldn’t counter, and the game was over.

“It should have never got to a shootout,” Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We haven’t had the killer instinct. We could have shut the door and really hurt them, but we didn’t.”

The 19,136 fans in attendance seemed to be split evenly between the Jackets and the Penguins when the game began. The bipartisan crowd traded chants, cheers and jeers throughout the night.

Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash got the scoring started with just fewer than two minutes remaining in the first period. 

During a power play, he put a shot on goal with a nifty wrap-around move. The rebound kicked out to Jackets center Derick Brassard, who fired a slapshot from the right circle.

Pittsburgh backup goalie Brent Johnson made the save, but the puck came off his blocker to Nash, who was on his knees in the slot. He put it past Johnson for a 1-0 lead.

Nash struck again in the second period with a wrister off a nice pass from Jackets center Antoine Vermette that beat Johnson high and right.

Pittsburgh struck back later in the period with a short-handed goal by left winger Chris Kunitz off an assist by Crosby.

The Jackets closed out the second period scoring with a goal that highlighted the type of teamwork and hustle that was on display during Columbus’ early season winning streak.

Jackets defenseman Marc Methot laid out and blocked a Pittsburgh shot in the corner.

Columbus’ Derek Dorsett raced up center ice and passed to teammate Samuel Pahlsson. Pahlsson fed it right back to Dorsett who faked right and then went left with a backhander that Johnson couldn’t handle.

In the third period, the Jackets seemed content with their lead.

“We started to play the clock far too early,” Hitchcock said. “We took our foot off the gas, and we didn’t get the game shut down.”

Pittsburgh capitalized.

Penguin defenseman Martin Skoula fired a slapshot that Mason deflected. Another Penguins player fell in front of Jackets goalie Steve Mason, screening him from the puck. Ruslan Fedotenko cleaned up the rebound to bring the Penguins within one.

Thirty-nine seconds later, Pittsburgh defenseman Alex Goligoski tied it up with a laser from between the circles.

Mason stood tall in overtime. He stopped several Penguin point-blank attempts in front of the net.

But the shootout proved to be too much for him. Crosby, taking Pittsburgh’s second shot, appeared to be stopped in his attempt. But the puck inched across the goal line just under Mason’s stick.

“I thought he had me,” Crosby said of the game-winner. “I tried to get him to bite a little bit. I’ll take them however they go.”

The Jackets stood toe-to-toe with the reigning champions and for 57 minutes appeared to be getting the better of them. This time, however, the bully won.