Greaves Beats Expectations, Werenski Hits Milestone In Blue Jackets Overtime Loss To Capitals

	1	2	3 (OT)	F
	0	1	0 (0)	1
	0	0	1 (1)	2
CBJ GOALS:  Werenski (P2, 14:12)

The Columbus Blue Jackets lost in overtime Thursday night, falling 2-1 to the Washington Capitals.

But they might be on to something between the pipes. 

Jet Greaves made 35 saves on 37 shots in his NHL season debut and was named the game's Third Star of the Night in the losing effort.

"He (Greaves) won a point for us," said coach Dean Evason.

When asked if Greaves' performance meant he may get to stick around for now, Evason responded with three words and a sly smile: "Yep. Sure does." 

"He's earned the right to be here ... and he earned it again tonight."

Greaves, who was called up Wednesday from the Cleveland Monsters, was making just his 11th career appearance as a member of the Blue Jackets.

"There were a lot of positives in the game but there are also some things I want to improve on (going forward)," said Greaves, who also took a moment to thank his teammates. 

"The guys did a great job in front of me," said Greaves. "It helps when the guys are helping me out in front like that."

One of those teammates: Zach Werenski picked up the 100th goal of his NHL career in a power play strike in the second period. The goal was also the 10th of the season for Werenski, who becomes the first NHL defenseman to reach double-digits in the goals category. 

Here's how 62 minutes of hockey went down Thursday night:

1st Period:

Scoreless periods between the Blue Jackets and an opponent are rare, but that's how the first 20 minutes played out here. Greaves had eight saves through the first eight minutes, but the Capitals managed just three shots on him through the final 12 minutes of the period for 11 total shots on goal. Washington had a 26-12 advantage in shot attempts in 5-on-5 play, but the final tally was 26-17 as a result of five shot attempts on a Columbus power play opportunity. The Caps also had the edge in scoring chances (16-8), but the teams were tied at 5-5 in high-danger attempts.

2nd Period

(14:12 — CBJ Goal): ...and it's a big one. The first goal of the game comes on the Blue Jackets fourth power play of the evening and it's Werenski's 100th of his career. Dmitri Voronkov won't get a point on this but his positioning right in front of Caps goalie Charlie Lindgren is a prototype of what you want from a power forward and made it easier for Z. As for who did get the apples: that's Kent Johnson and Sean Monahan and for Johnson, it's the 17th point of his season in just 15 games. That surpasses last season's total of 16 points in 42 games. 

One for the archives: Zach's 100th career goal! It gave the #CBJ a 1-0 lead at the 14:12 mark of the second frame. It's goal #10 of the season for Z, becoming the first defenseman in the NHL to hit double-digits.

Still 1-0 Blue Jackets, 3:08 left in P2.pic.twitter.com/yCqpgwE5NE

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 13, 2024

3rd Period

(0:31 — WSH Goal): The Capitals brought a road-winning streak of nine games (now ten) into Nationwide, in large part because they outscored their opponents 22-4 (now 23-4) in the third period in those games. It took them less than a minute to strike here, with Aliaksei Protas lined up right in the middle of the slot to get one past Greaves and tie the game at 1-1. Former Blue Jacket Pierre-Luc Dubois gets the primary assist on the goal.

Overtime:

(2:23 — WSH Goal): It's the second of the night for Protas, this time a hard wrister that gets past Greaves to give Washington a 2-1 victory in extra time.

Stat Chat:

• Washington only had one power play, but the Blue Jackets were able to kill it off and end the 14-game streak of allowing at least one goal when on the PK. 
   
• The Caps' 42 scoring chances and 72 shot attempts aided in their 4.21 expected goals for the game, per NaturalStatTrick.com. Another analytics site, MoneyPuck, calculated the Caps' expected goals at 3.94. In either event, Greaves giving up just two in 62+ minutes against the league's highest-scoring offense was a statement.
   
• 1.65 of the 3.52 expected goals for the Blue Jackets came while on their five combined power plays for the evening, more than half of what was expected for the game. The team couldn't connect on a 56-second two-man advantage in the second period, which may have ended up being the difference.

Up Next:

The three-game homestand comes to an end Saturday night when the Blue Jackets battle the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drops at the standard time: 7 p.m.