Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Washington Capitals (22-17-8, 52 points) and Columbus Blue Jackets (22-20-4, 48 points) faceoff for the third of four meetings against each other this season live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The game can be live streamed here. Washington fans can hear all of the action on WFED 1500 while Columbus fans can do the same on 97.1 The Fan.
Washington enters play on a busy stretch and has lost its last three games in a row while Columbus has a season-high four-game winning streak going entering tonight's game and plays seven of its next nine games at Nationwide Arena. The Capitals have won both prior meetings in Washington with a 4-1 win on Oct. 19 and a 4-3 overtime win on Nov. 12.
The Capitals squandered a 3-2 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins midway through the third period Tuesday and ended up losing 4-3 to drop their third straight and their fifth in their last seven.
"We played a pretty good game, but we figured out a way to lose it," coach Adam Oates said afterwards per NHL.com. "We did a lot of good things in the game, and obviously you get tired of saying that, too, especially when we blow it. Tonight we play a good game, and we figure out a way to get a lead in the third against a fresher team, and we didn't sustain it. You have to be able to."
The Blue Jackets are coming off of a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday and know the importance of every game.
"It's kind of the same things we talked about last year in the shortened season, the importance of every game," coach Todd Richards said, according to NHL.com. "We're down to [36] games. So there's not a lot left. They're becoming more important."
The Blue Jackets have been led by Ryan Johansen, who has 34 points off of 17 goals and 17 assists while Brandon Dubinsky has lit the lamp nine times and added 20 helpers for 29 points and Nick Foligno (12 goals, 14 assists) and James Wisniewski (three goals, 23 assists) each have 26 points.
Alex Ovechkin has seven points in his last seven games and is tied for the team lead with 48 points while finding the back of the net a league-high 34 times and adding 14 assists while Nicklas Backstrom also has 48 points while finding the back of the net 11 times and adding 37 helpers for 48 points and Mikhail Grabovski has 12 markers and 21 assists for 33 points.
In between the pipes, Washington will likely turn to Braden Holtby, who is 13-11-2 with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage while Sergei Bobrovsky is the probable starter for Columbus and is 13-11-2 with a 2.58 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
The Capitals look to avoid losing their fourth straight game while the Blue Jackets aim to make it a season-high five wins in a row when the puck drops tonight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
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