PREVIEW: Blue Jackets end road swing at Capitals

The Blue Jackets enter tonight’s game at Washington tied for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, but you can’t help but think where the Blue Jackets would be if they hadn’t let some late leads disappear.

Closing a game at the NHL level is a difficult task, and just about every game in the league has come down to the wire this year. The Blue Jackets are 7-0-2 when leading going to the third period, but there’s no denying there have been some struggles when it comes to finishing things off.

Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Detroit marked the third time this month Columbus led in the third period but failed to get the full complement of points. In three other victories against Eastern Conference foes they’ll be battling for playoff positioning, the Blue Jackets were ahead in the final frame but allowed the opposition to rally and steal a point in extra time.

After the loss against the Red Wings, defenseman Zach Werenski was asked if there was a common thread to some of the issues.

“It’s all different, right?” Werenski said. “I feel like we weren’t on our heels (in this game). They get kind of a lucky bounce on the (second) goal and then score (just after) a power play. So it’s a little bit different. Obviously you don’t want to give up leads like that in the third. I feel like (vs.) Toronto, they make a good play. Tonight, they just get some breaks. It’s not like we were on our heels, so it’s a little different. But it definitely sucks when you have a lead with however many minutes left to come away with one point.”

On the other side of things, the good news is that the Blue Jackets have been leading late in those games. Columbus is now ninth in the NHL in time with a lead, as their 466:14 spent ahead of opponents is more than the 368:51 the Jackets have been trailing.

“I think on the bright side of it, like if you look at the last few games here, we've had the lead late in the third period,” forward Miles Wood said after the Detroit game. “That's the positive of it. It's just trying to seal it, and we have the guys in the room. I have faith in them, and it's not a big deal. It sucks that we didn't get two points tonight, but we have to take the positives and know that we've been in the lead the majority of the games the last handful of games.”

In all, the Blue Jackets have earned points in seven of the last eight contests, so they’ve played some good hockey to net those results. Head coach Dean Evason said the team’s best work Saturday came in the second period, but the disappointment of it was the Blue Jackets couldn’t quite reach that level again to close things out.

"We loved our second period,” Evason said. “Loved it. It was probably the best period we’ve had, and we didn’t back that up with the same (in the third), not that we played poorly. But yeah, probably the second goal, we get a block and it goes right to them and they score that, that one probably hurt us the most. But we got it to overtime and they make a play, score a goal, so yeah, a point is a point.”

Scratches: F Kirill Marchenko (upper body injury), D Dysin Mayo

Injured reserve: Erik Gudbranson (upper body injury), F Boone Jenner (upper body injury)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets announced Monday afternoon that Marchenko is out after leaving morning skate, with Aston-Reese likely to go into the lineup and Chinakhov moving up. Merzlikins will get the start against the Capitals.

This Day in CBJ History

Nov. 24, 2007: All three CBJ shooters tally in the shootout and the Blue Jackets earn a 3-2 victory vs. Detroit at Nationwide Arena. Michael Peca, Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev scored three straight goals past Chris Osgood to give the Jackets the shootout win. In the second period of the game, Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk scored five seconds apart, the fastest two goals against the Blue Jackets in team history.

Nov. 24, 2010: Jakeub Voracek tallies 2:31 into overtime and the Blue Jackets claim a 4-3 win at the New York Islanders.

Nov. 24, 2021: Elvis Merzlikins makes 36 saves and the Blue Jackets earn a 3-0 victory at Winnipeg behind goals from Gregory Hofmann, Zach Werenski and Andrew Peeke.

The Numbers Game

With a goal and assist Saturday at Detroit, Zach Werenski has a six-game point streak (3-7-10) and is tied for second among NHL defensemen in goals (seven), tied for third in points (21), is first in shots on goal (85) and second in average ice time (26:50). ... Adam Fantilli has tallied in six of the last eight games and posted a 7-4-11 line in the last nine games. ... With a goal and an assist Thursday in Toronto, Dmitri Voronkov has a team-high nine goals (three in the last five games) and notched his fifth multipoint game of the season. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored an NHL-best 16 goals this season, while Washington is one behind with 15. … Jet Greaves has posted a 4-0-2 record and .916 save percentage in his last six starts, while Elvis Merzlikins is looking for the 99th win of his NHL career. ... The CBJ penalty kill is clicking at 88.5 percent (23 for 26) in the last 13 games. ... Charlie Coyle is one point away from 500 in his NHL career, while Dean Evason has 198 wins as an NHL head coach.

Know The Foe: Washington Capitals

Head coach: Spencer Carbery (Third season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.23 (9th) | Scoring defense: 2.73 (T-6th)| PP: 14.7 percent (27th) | PK: 71.8 percent (29th)

The narrative: You could be forgiven if you thought the Caps’ run among the NHL elite was over. The retirements of Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie marked the end of an era in DC, and Washington didn’t win a playoff series in the six seasons after capturing the 2018 Stanley Cup. Then came last year’s renaissance in which Alex Ovechkin set the NHL’s all-time goals record, the Capitals coasted to the Metropolitan Division title and won their opening series vs. Montreal. Things haven’t come quite as easily this year, but Washington remains in the hunt in the crowded Eastern Conference.

Scoring leaders: Tom Wilson is filling up the scoresheet this year, leading the squad with 11 goals and 21 points, posting a plus-9 rating and placing second in the NHL with 52 penalty minutes. For the second straight season, Dylan Strome is operating a point-per-game pace, posting a 5-15-20 line. Ovechkin has continued to light the lamp, coasting past 900 goals and scoring 10 times this year with 10 assists. Jakob Chychrun (6-13-19) and John Carlson (4-15-19) are tied for the team lead in scoring among defensemen and sixth among NHL D.

In net: Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren had nearly a 50-50 split in net a season ago but Thompson has taken the lead job this year thus far, starting 15 games and posting an 8-6-1 record, 2.24 GAA and .910 save percentage. Lindgren has made eight appearances with a 3-3-1 record, 3.14 GAA and .889 save percentage.

What's new: The Caps made some changes over the offseason, saying goodbye to forwards Andrew Mangiapane, Lars Eller and Taylor Raddysh while bringing in Justin Sourdif up front. The biggest addition, though, has been rookie forward Ryan Leonard, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 draft who has five goals thus far. Washington had won three games in a row, scoring 17 goals in the process, before falling Saturday vs. Tampa Bay.

Trending: Washington won the series opener between the teams Oct. 24, pulling away late to a 5-1 victory at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets are just 4-9-3 in the series the past five seasons.

Former CBJ: After a 66-point campaign a year ago, Pierre-Luc Dubois has played just six games this season and is out long-term thanks to a core muscle injury. Sonny Milano had an injury-plagued 2024-25 campaign and has played 11 games this year with three goals.