Panarin pushes Jackets past Caps in overtime
WASHINGTON The Columbus Blue Jackets went down two goals and three forwards and left with a Game 1 victory.
Artemi Panarin scored a beautiful goal 6:02 into overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night in the first-round playoff series.
Panarin won it after Columbus lost Josh Anderson to a game misconduct, Alexander Wennberg with an apparent head injury and captain Nick Foligno after taking a puck to the face.
None of that seemed to faze a team accustomed to overcoming injuries and digging out of deficits.
“In the playoffs, you find a little bit of extra energy,” said Blue Jackets forward Thomas Vanek, who scored from Wennberg’s spot on the power play and had an assist. “That tonight was one of those games where we talked to each other, we pumped each other up, we felt good and it never felt like we were going to lose this one.”
Maybe the Blue Jackets didn’t, but they didn’t make it easy on themselves, falling behind 2-0 on power-play goals by Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on Anderson’s five-minute major penalty for boarding and injuring Washington’s Michal Kempny. Not letting the game snowball out of control allowed Columbus to claw back in it with Wennberg’s goal in the second and then Vanek’s on the power play early in the third.
Vanek scored with Tom Wilson in the penalty box for charging Wennberg, a play the Capitals forward took responsibility for shifting the game in the Blue Jackets’ direction.
“That cost us the game,” Wilson said. “That’s a critical moment. I’ve got to be better. Maybe pass up on that hit. We’ve got the lead there, so maybe a big hit’s not needed.”
Foligno took a slap shot from Jakub Jerabek to the face just under his left eye 10 seconds after Vanek’s goal, making a gaping hole on the Columbus bench until he returned. Even though Devante Smith-Pelly scored to give the Capitals a lead 5:12 into the third, the Blue Jackets kept grinding and didn’t let the game get away despite being under-manned.