Justin Williams gets on the board, and the Caps hold off the Blue Jackets, 2-1
|
Version 0 of 1. They were welcomed to Washington as the missing pieces, a boost in skill to the forward corps, perhaps the boost that finally gets the Washington Capitals over the hump in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Friday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Verizon Center will be a blip on the radar in that journey, but it seemed to mark the end of an adjustment period for new additions T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams. Both scored in the 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, preventing the Capitals (7-2-0) from an extended letdown after Wednesday’s home loss to Pittsburgh. Williams came to Washington in the offseason via free agency, Oshie arrived by trade, and both seem to be fitting in just fine. “When you’re contributing, you’re always fitting in a lot better and feeling good about yourself,” Capitals Coach Barry Trotz said. “They play the right way and they say the right things and they come and practice the right way. They bring energy to the room, so they’ve been a really seamless fit.” [Trotz uses his coach’s challenge ] With the game scoreless midway through the second period, Williams’s one-timer broke a stalemate. The puck scooted away from Williams and down the boards, but defenseman Karl Alzner kept the play alive, retrieving the puck by the boards and passing it off to Marcus Johansson, who fed Williams in the high slot. Williams dropped to one knee as he blasted the puck and then watched the disc rattle around the goal. His photo later appeared on the video board as his name was announced as the goal scorer, a first for him as a Washington Capital in his new home venue and second overall . “Mentally, you have to expect a score every game and every shot you have,” Williams said. “That’s obviously not realistic, but it’s the mentality I’ve got to have, so I expect many more around here.” Oshie’s fourth goal of the season gave the Capitals a two-goal cushion midway through the third period. Alex Ovechkin passed from the left faceoff circle to Nicklas Backstrom on the right. Skating backward, Backstrom pushed the puck to Oshie, who fired from the slot, a perfectly executed tic-tac-toe play. “The funny thing is, Osh casually sends a rocket underneath the bar,” Trotz said. “I mean, he made it look so causal that it was just like throwing a dart. When you see those three players going on a three-on-one, you get excited.” Columbus answered with a goal by Matt Calvert less than three minutes later. Trotz used his new coach’s challenge power for the first time, arguing that goaltender Braden Holtby was interfered with by Boone Jenner. But the goal stood, which ultimately didn’t matter for the Capitals, who got 29 saves from Holtby. “We battled through that and we won,” Trotz said. “I just felt bad for Holts. I think he deserved a shutout.” After a physical, scoreless first period against Pittsburgh, Alzner said Oshie happily strode into the locker room during intermission and said, “That’s what I love. I love the battles.” The Capitals had another one Friday night. The Blue Jackets (2-9-0) started the second period with back-to-back shots on goal less than three minutes into the period, but an impressive sequence by Holtby kept them off the board. First, his pad saved David Savard’s slap shot. Jenner tried to punch in the rebound, but Holtby’s pad was there again. The Capitals had their chances, too. Thirteen minutes 14 seconds into the period, Ovechkin and defenseman Dmitry Orlov rumbled into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush. Ovechkin fed Orlov, who had only Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky before him. But his wrist shot missed wide of the net. A minute later, Williams got the Capitals on the board. “We’re a different look than we were last year,” Alzner said. “Last year, I think we were a little bit more grind-it-out and beat-them-down and that kind of style. I think now, we still have that, but we have a little bit more finesse.” |