NHL: Washington Capitals play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets
The Washington Capitals will play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets in another game of Thursday at the Verizon Center. This is the lone meeting between the two teams during the course of the season. The last time these two met was during the last season
in a two games series.
The Blues Jackets won the first game 5-4 and won the second game 3-2 on the last two occasions these two meetings met. The Capitals are on quite a role as they have some impressive performances after struggling in the middle part of the season. They are
six points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division and in a good position to win the Division title and also give the Flyers a tough time in the running for the Conference title. A win for the Capitals this game would mean that they would
score 100 plus points for the third consecutive season and also win the Division for the fourth consecutive time.
"As a group, I think we've come along, we've grown up," Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We won't have 121 points this year but I think we're smarter as a group and maybe a little bit better as a team."
The Capitals were up against the Carolina Hurricanes in their last game this past Tuesday. Though they were the stronger of the two teams but they lost the game 3-2 after shootout. The game saw the Captain of the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin returning from injury.
"It was pretty hard when you come back after three games sitting out," Ovechkin said. "But every shift, every period I felt better and better."
The Capitals have played 77 games during the course of the season out of which they have won 44 games in regulation time, 11 games in overtime to score a total of 99 points. They are in the second position in the Eastern Conference and expected to give the
Flyers a tough time in the running for the Conference title. The Blue Jackets have played 76 games during the season out of which they have won 34 games in regulation time, 11 games in overtime and scored a total of 79 points.
The Blue Jackets are out of the play-offs this time as they are 11 points behind the Chicago Blackhawks who occupy the final play-off position in the Western Conference.
The Blue Jackets were in a good position as they faced the Florida Panthers in their last game. The game saw both teams coming up with a decent ice hockey performance which saw the Blue Jackets winning the game 3-2 after shootout his past Tuesday.
"We needed this win," rookie Maksim Mayorov said after his club ended a four-game losing skid and a string of six straight home defeats. "We tried so hard, we worked so hard. We deserved this game."
The game will be very interesting and close given the fact that both teams are looking win as score important points.
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