With 12 minutes left in Thursday’s game, the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled out their goaltender in desperation. Conor Sheary scored almost instantly, sealing a landslide victory for the Washington Capitals.
Anthony Manta scored twice in the first period, one scored by T.J. Oshi, and the second scored thanks to a good rebound from goalkeeper Joonas Korpisalo’s skate. Marti Fehervari took advantage of a bad line change to make it 3-0 in the second period, but the Jackets hit back with a one-touch Björkstrand. Alex Ovechkin scored his 38th goal of the season from a one-shot powerplay, then Patrick Laine had an unrealistic rebound early in the third. Connor McMichael made a break in the third period, counting Columbus’ own goal.
Columbus pulled out the goaltender with almost thirteen minutes left, so Conor Sheary scored an empty net almost immediately. Evgeniy Kuznetsov scored a powerplay goal later in the third period.
The Caps win 7-2.
Yeah. This is Baylamos game.
- In the first period, the puck bounced off the boards, and then crossed the goal line from Korpisalo’s skate. Credit: Anthony Manta. In the third period, Columbus defenseman Dean Kukan caught a rebound and accidentally hit his own net. Credit: Connor McMichael. This is a big setback for a not-so-good team.
- (However, McMike needed this lucky rebound; it was his first goal since Feb. 10.)
- Anthony Manta been on a roll since he got back on March 3rd. He now has five points (four of them goals) in his last five games. I’ll just put Transparent-millie.png here.
- I really liked it Alexey Ovechkingoal of the game in the majority. It was a normal shot from Ovi’s spot, but the pass was from under the goal line. This gave Ovechkin a free pass to shoot. I don’t think this is the kind of game you can create, but it would be nice if they could make some more looks like this for him.
- TJ Oshi left the game early in the third period with a lower body injury. Not good at all.
Oshi played three shifts during this period. The last one lasted 19 seconds. pic.twitter.com/MSJXJ8NKTU
— Nice tweet, Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) March 18, 2022
- I think I should complain about ref calls here. Alex Ovechkin was called for interference as he landed a clean shot on a live puck against a player in possession of the puck. Dmitry Orlov received a roughness after he received a blow to the head. Nick Dowd was called in for embellishment because he was dramatically destroyed. Some surprising calls there.
- Technically this is not a short goal for a short king, Conor Shiri, but I’ll call it one anyway. Call it poetic license.
The St. Patty’s Day tie I just tested and you can write it however you want, no one cares, on @JoeBpXp #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/wrzbDG0x3s
— Nice tweet, Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) March 17, 2022
We kind of watched the Columbus season end tonight. They need to be like one percent to make the playoffs now.
In any case, this is not the time to gloat. On Friday, the Caps will play a very tough game in Raleigh. And it looks like they will lose one player for that. Sorry for ending on a sad note.
Head photo: @Jencapsfan74