Caps meet Columbus | Washington Capitals

Dec. 12 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena

Time: 7:00 p.m

TV: MNMT

Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7

Washington Capitals (19-6-2)

Columbus Blue Jackets (13.12.3)

After a four-day break from the rigors of the stadium – at least the rigors of game day – the Caps return to action on Thursday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Thursday’s game ends a stretch of three straight road games, and the Caps can continue to rewrite their franchise record in this game.

It’s a little strange to take a four-day break in the middle of an NHL season, and it’s even stranger that this break comes in the middle of a series of away games. But the Caps aren’t complaining. They ended November with six games in ten nights and were able to start December on a much more leisurely note. Thursday’s game is just the fourth in a dozen nights. But the game in Columbus is the start of a series of seven games in a dozen nights leading up to the NHL holiday break for Washington.

“It was huge; I think it will be very beneficial to our group,” Caps forward Connor McMichael said of the break. “We have a few guys who are hurting because they play every other day all year long. We talked about it and how it could hurt us and help us. And we want to be there and help each other. We want to make sure we don’t get back into the game (Thursday) carelessly.

“But overall I think it was good for our group to have a few days and just take a few deep breaths.”

For the first time in the team’s half-century NHL history, the Capitals enter Thursday’s game with a nine-game road win streak. Heading into the season, the franchise mark stood at seven straight wins, but the Caps broke that record last weekend with an impressive sweep of back-to-back wins.

On Friday evening, the Caps triumphed 3-1 over the Leafs in Toronto. A night later in Montreal, Washington recovered from a 2-0 deficit in the first period to claim its ninth straight road win thanks to outstanding performances from Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson.

After deflecting a point shot from Jakob Chychrun into the left cheek midway through the first period, Wilson recovered but was clearly in some distress; He went into the room to be examined. It’s unlikely he was back on the ice before the end of the first frame, but the left side of his face looked like he had a softball stuck in his cheek.

Despite all that trauma above his neck, Wilson was still able to score the equalizer and the game-winning goals in the third period of the 4-2 comeback win over the Canadiens, but he also stood fearlessly in front of the Montreal goal and made a difference for a hit screen for the Caps’ fourth goal of the game, a power play goal by Dylan Strome in the third.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice in Montreal on Saturday, Logan Thompson calmly fended off four Montreal breakaway attempts in the third period, the first two of which came before Wilson’s equalizer. In doing so, Thompson increased his season record to 11-1-2.

On Wednesday morning, before the Caps headed to the Ohio capital, Wilson took to the ice for practice with his teammates. His facial swelling has decreased dramatically since Saturday evening, but he still wore a blister on the ice to protect his face.

“I think it can always be worse; it can always be better,” says Wilson. “Once it happens, you just go with it. It’s a tough sport. It’s a pretty wild sport and I’m lucky it wasn’t worse.”

That goes for all of his teammates and the coaching staff, but also for Caps fans everywhere. Washington has played its last nine games without team captain Alex Ovechkin (fractured fibula), and Wilson (five goals, four assists) leads the team in both goals and points during The Great Eight’s absence.

In addition to their franchise-record winning streak, the Caps enter Thursday’s game with the best record in the Eastern Conference and also have a seven-game point streak (6-0-1). They lost the first two games they played without Ovechkin, but they have picked up points in every game since then.

“I think that says a lot about this group,” Wilson said of the team’s success without its captain. “We are a strong group; We have four lines that can play. It’s not one guy on any given night; It’s a balanced rating. Everyone performs every night. It’s a real group effort and guys really playing for each other.

“It’s been a really fun year with this group and the guys are excited to get on the rink, the guys want to play for each other and the guys want to rally around each other when the game gets tough. And that’s a pretty cool thing for someone who’s been here and seen different groups. This year it’s fun.”

A season with an away record of 11-2-0 is usually fun. Getting nine road wins in a row is otherworldly for a franchise that has only managed to get back-to-back road wins in its fifth season of existence.

“Hockey is a 50/50 game,” Caps defenseman John Carlson said. “I don’t know what’s in it. Maybe our expectations are lower and maybe we work a little harder. It doesn’t matter what it looks like or what happens, but getting it done depends more on the mindset than it would at home. As a team, we talk about the same things before every game, no matter where we are; We don’t play in freezing temperatures like football in February.

“It is what it is and we’re going through the hot phase. And definitely things went great for us on the road.”

They’ll try to hang on for one more game, and that won’t be an easy task against a proud and dangerous Columbus club coached by former Washington assistant coach Dean Evason.

The Jackets just returned from five games in eight nights on a rough road trip out West. Columbus won the start of this trip in Chicago and stunned the Jets in Winnipeg in the final. In between, however, the Jackets lost three games in four nights in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Columbus bounced back from Sunday’s win in Winnipeg to open a three-game homestand against the Flyers on Tuesday, but it ended flat, falling 5-3 in that game. Even after Tuesday’s loss to the Flyers, the Jackets still boast an impressive 8-4-1 record on home ice this season.