Blue Jackets Hope to "Capitalize" on Washington's Recent Loss

In home-and-home games, Columbus is hosting the Capitals tonight before heading to DC themselves.

After a 4-3 loss to the Islanders on Saturday, Columbus is looking to bounce back to maintain their wildcard spot. Every point counts in the Metro as it's a close race. In their last 10 games, Columbus is 4-5-1 and lost back-to-back games this weekend.

During practice on Monday, Tortorella wanted to focus on the positives of the game on Saturday.

"I've got probably 35 [video] clips of good things we did last game," coach John Tortorella said. "That's the most important thing for our team to see right now."

Columbus dominated the majority of the game, but seemed to lose steam after New York scored their third goal. In the first period, the Jackets put 26 SOG which set a new record for shots in one period. Their first goal came on a power play, but then they allowed New York a power play goal within the same period. After the Islanders took a 2-1 lead in the second, Columbus was able to score two unanswered goals by forward Cam Atkinson and Captain Nick Foligno. Unfortunately, within the first five minutes of the third, the Islanders scored two of their own unanswered goals which led to the Jackets demise.

Despite the loss, Tortorella wanted to focus on the good aspects of the game. The boys played with intensity throughout the entire game, a ferocity that has been missing as of late. Torts wants to get the Jackets back to playing with swagger against Washington, and he believes that'll get the team back to their roots.

While they've lost their past two games in regulation, the Capitals still boast 65 points and currently hold the number one spot in the Metro. They had two four-game winning streaks in their last 21 games while also going 12-5-4.

Tonight's game marks the second matchup of the two clubs; their first stint was all the way back on December 2 where the Capitals took the W. The next fight, Washington will host Columbus at the Verizon Center, and then they will return to Ohio for the finale.

Since returning from his injury, Cam Atkinson has had four points in the last four games. He's netted two goals and garnered two assists. He had a game-high eight shots and also a goal in the fight against the Islanders Saturday. On the opposite end, Evgeny Kuznetsov also has a four-game streak. He boats six points in his streak which includes one goal and five assists. Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are also having a great season with both of them nearing some career milestones. Backstrom is one goal away from his 200th NHL goal. Ovechkin is also one goal away from tying Jerome Iginla for 8th overall in the NHL. Additionally, the Russian Machine is on track to score 50 goals this season. If he does, this will mark his eighth career season with 50+ goals. That will put him one season behind hockey legends Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky who both retired with nine seasons.

CBJ Projected Lineup

Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson

Oliver Bjorkstrand - Alexander Wennberg - Nick Foligno

Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson

Matt Calvert - Lukas Sedlak - Jussi Jokinen

Zach Werenski - Seth Jones

Jack Johnson - Markus Nutivaara

Dean Kukan - David Savard

Sergei Bobrovsky

Washington Projected Lineup

Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Tom Wilson

Jakub Vrana - Evgeny Kuznetsov - T.J. Oshie

Brett Connolly - Lars Eller - Andre Burakovsky

Chandler Stephenson - Jay Beagle - Devante Smith-Pelly

Christian Djoos - John Carlson

Matt Niskanen - Dmitri Orlov

Brooks Orpik - Madison Bowey

Braden Holtby