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Logan Thompson's mastery against Blue Jackets continues: Takeaways
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- Logan Thompson's mastery against Blue Jackets continues: Takeaways
In just two days, the Blue Jackets saw different ends of the NHL's goaltending spectrum, but with the same results.
Columbus lit up Blue Jackets star Sergei Bobrovsky with six goals in South Florida and couldn't get a single puck past Capitals goalie Logan Thompson on 39 shots the next day. After falling 7-6 in overtime to the Florida Panthers on Dec. 6 in Sunrise, Florida, the Jackets lost 2-0 to the Washington Capitals on Dec. 6 in Washington , D.C.
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More: Blue Jackets shut out by Thompson in Capitals' 2-0 win
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason described the OT loss to the Panthers as "an absolute joke," while appearing to complain about the way it was officiated. A day later, he looked as confounded by Thompson's performance as his players.
Two games. Two days. Two extremes. Two losses.
Here are the takeaways:
Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson is 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average, .979 save percentage and a shutout against the Blue Jackets this season.
Columbus Blue Jackets flummoxed by Washington Capitals ' Logan Thompson again
We've reached the point with Thompson and the Blue Jackets where the guys from Columbus probably feel that never having to face Logan Thompson again would be too soon.
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The righty catching Capitals backstop is tormenting just about every team he faces right now, but Thompson's invasion of the Blue Jackets' heads has been so thorough this season that he could probably map each of their frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes plus cerebellums and medulla oblongatas.
Thompson is 3-0-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average, .979 save percentage and this shutout against the Blue Jackets this season. Sunday marked the first time in his career that he blanked the Blue Jackets, but in seven career games against Columbus he's 5-1-0, with a 1.90 GAA and .942 save percentage.
He made several incredible saves in this matchup, leaving Zach Werenski , Kirill Marchenko , Cole Sillinger , Sean Monahan and Isac Lundeström all shaking their heads. Thompson's win was the 100th of his NHL career, making him the 17th goalie in league history to reach that milestone in 170 games or fewer.
"I don't know if it's structural," Evason said. "I mean, they're a good team, obviously, but when you get (39) shots, you've got (39) opportunities to score on the net, and we had some really good quality chances. I think more than anything, the goaltender was real good."
Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson makes a save while being run into by Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk.
Columbus Blue Jackets ' power play unable to crack Logan Thompson
Almost halfway through the third, Blue Jackets forward Brendan Gaunce lost a tooth when hit by Hendrix Lapierre 's stick, which drew a four-minute, double-minor penalty.
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Washington led just 1-0, so if the Blue Jackets were going to force overtime or win with a comeback, that was the time to do it. Thompson made sure that didn't happen, stopping five shots and getting help from three Blue Jackets misses.
Columbus had climbed to 15th in the NHL with a 19.1% power play success rate prior to the game, but dropped to 19th after going 0-for-3 in Washington. They're 1-for-7 in the first two games of a three-game road trip that concludes Dec. 9 at the Carolina Hurricanes .
Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves stops a shot by Capitals center Aliaksei Protas.
Jet Greaves impressive while dropping goaltending duel
Despite not playing since Nov. 28 in Pittsburgh , Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves held his team in a tight game by nearly matching Thompson save-for-save.
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He was beaten to the short side on a one-timer by Washington's Jakob Chychrun 50 seconds into the second period, but that was the lone Capitals shot that got past him on 37 shots. A whopping 14 of those shots happened with the Blue Jackets killing penalties, and Greaves denied the Capitals a power-play goal on four opportunities.
"It was a little bit of a different situation (not playing), but I think it's been positive and it's my job to be ready whenever my name's called," Greaves said in a postgame interview with FanDuel Sports Network. "So, that was positive, and I think the guys did a great job in front of me. There were some rebounds around the net they cleared out, so it was great."
According to Natural Stat Trick , the Capitals finished with a 21-13 edge in high-danger scoring chances when factoring in all situations for a 5.31 to 3.40 expected goals edge over the Blue Jackets. Thompson got the shutout and win, but Greaves was nearly as sharp.
Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves prepares to make a save on Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin.
Lost points separated Columbus Blue Jackets from Washington Capitals
Going into this game, the Capitals led the Metropolitan Division with 37 points, and the Blue Jackets looked up from last place with 32.
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The five points separating them loomed large. The Blue Jackets are 4-1-5 in the 10 games in which they've blown third period leads. That's five overtime/shootout losses that either could've or should've been regulation wins, so the Jackets have let five points slip away.
This game could've been a battle for first in the Metro, but instead was a first-last matchup between two teams who might be heading in different directions.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Logan Thompson's mastery against Blue Jackets continues: Takeaways
