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WASHINGTON CAPITALS SUNDAY, APRIL 13 6:00 P.M. CAPITAL ONE ARENA WASHINGTON, D.C. |
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CAPS: |
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Just keep winning.
One day after a 7-0 throttling of the Washington Capitals at Nationwide Arena, the Columbus Blue Jackets face the Caps again to complete the weekend home-and-home.
This time, it's on the road, and this time, the Blue Jackets must win to remain alive in the playoff race.
Trailing the Montreal Canadiens by five points with three games left, the math is both simple and complex at the same time.
The simple version is that the Blue Jackets must win their last three games and that the Canadiens must lose their last two, one of which must be a regulation loss.
The complex version is how they lose. Regulation wins could become a factor when it comes to tiebreaker so winning in 60 minutes would be ideal, but the imperative part for Sunday is, as they say, to "just win, baby."
The Blue Jackets aren't going to change a thing.
“We’re just going out there and playing," said Sean Kuraly. "We’re ready to live with whatever fate comes our way."
"We know we’re going to keep playing hard regardless of what happens elsewhere"
Here's what else to know before a do-or-die game in the Nation's Capital:
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | WSH | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-23-4 | ROAD / HOME | 26-8-6 | ||
| 10th | 3.22 | GOALS FOR | 3.54 | t-1st |
| 27th | 3.35 | GOALS AGAINST | 2.77 | 9th |
| 22nd | 19.4% | POWER PLAY | 23.5% | 13th |
| 25th | 76.3% | PENALTY KILL | 81.7% | 6th |
| CAPITALS: LAST THREE GAMES | ||||
| SUN, 4/6 | @ Islanders | L, 4-1 | ||
| THU, 4/10 | vs. Hurricanes | SOW, 5-4 | ||
| SAT, 4/12 | @ Blue Jackets | L, 7-0 | ||
| CAPITALS: TEAM LEADERS | ||||
| GOALS | Alex Ovechkin | 42 | ||
| ASSISTS | Dylan Strome | 51 | ||
| POINTS | Dylan Strome | 77 | ||
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 36% | |||
| CBJ ODDS PER ESPN: | +140 | |||
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RE: CAPS
After missing Saturday's game for rest, Alex Ovechkin will play Sunday. ... This is the regular season home finale for the Capitals, who have won eight of their last nine at Capital One Arena. ... Washington has allowed three or more goals in ten straight games. ... When the Caps went down 5-0 Saturday, it was their largest deficit of the season. ... No official announcement has been made, but early indications are that Charlie Lindgren will start for Washington in this one. He's 19-13-3 this season with a 2.74 goals against average and .893 save percentage.
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JET STARTS AGAIN
Jet Greaves will make his third consecutive start for the Blue Jackets and fourth in five nights dating back to a start Wednesday night with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters. Greaves has been electric, recording his first NHL shutout in the Saturday win and stopping 61 of 63 shots in that win plus the win Thursday night over the Buffalo Sabres. This was after giving up two goals on the first seven shots he faced, meaning he's made 56 consecutive saves.
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FIVE MORE FOR A FRANCHISE RECORD
Saturday's offensive explosion put the Blue Jackets at 254 goals this season, their third-highest total in franchise history. Next up: 256, scored in the 2018-19 season. Then it's all the all-time mark of 258, which came in the 2021-22 season. They're on the doorstep.
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LINEUPS CHANGES & PROJECTIONS:
There will no lineup changes, according to head coach Dean Evason. Here are the projected lines:
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 23 | Sean Monahan | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 21 | James van Riemsdyk | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 91 | Kent John |
| 10 | Dmitri Voronkov | 34 | Cole Sillinger | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| 27 | Zach Aston-Reese | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 17 | Justin Danforth |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 15 | Dante Fabbro |
| 5 | Denton Mateychuk | 9 | Ivan Provorov |
| 22 | Jordan Harris | 44 | Erik Gudbranson |
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | Jet Greaves | 40 | Daniil Tarasov |
