Down 0-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets and having just surrendered home ice, Washington captain Alex Ovechkin made a guarantee.
“It's going to be fun when we bounce back and tie the series and come back here to play Game 5 at home,” he said prior to Game 3 in Columbus.
Turns out, Ovechkin was right.
After dispatching the Blue Jackets in double overtime, 3-2 in Game 3, and then thoroughly dominating Columbus, 4-1, in Game 4, the Washington Capitals head back to the District tied in the series and once again with home ice in their favor.
Ovechkin racked up four points in two games on the road, backing up his promise with his play on the ice. He assisted on both of Washington's regulation goals Tuesday night helping the Capitals to a win in the longest game in Blue Jackets history.
In Game 4, he had a helper on a T.J. Oshie goal to make it 2-0 in the second period, before blasting a shot low, glove-side past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 3-0, Capitals, and sucking all of the life out of Nationwide Arena three minutes into the final period.
In four games this series, Ovechkin has six points on three goals and three assists. In the two games since he made his guarantee, he has four points to the Blue Jackets three.
And he did it against the two largest crowds in Blue Jackets history.
Having played their worst game in months, the Blue Jackets return to Washington for Game 5, having given up home ice and needing to win two of three – with at least one coming on the road – to advance.
“We just need to move by this as quickly as possible and play another game,” Blue Jackets head coach John Totorella said following his team's Game 4 loss Thursday night.
“We sucked. We sucked. So let's move by it and see if we play better Saturday afternoon.”
