Game Preview: Greaves Starts As Blue Jackets Continue Road Trip With Stop In D.C. To Face Ovechkin, Capitals

Up 4-1 in the second period and 6-4 in the third, the Columbus Blue Jackets fell in overtime Saturday evening to the Florida Panthers by a 7-6 score.

A chance at redemption comes Sunday when the Blue Jackets head to D.C. to face the Washington Capitals.

Here are five things to know before the 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:

The Capitals saw their six-game win streak come to an end Friday, but they still picked up a point in their overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks and enter this game with a seven game point streak and a 9-1-1 mark over their last 11. … Logan Thompson gets the start for Washington. He’s 12-6-2 this season with a 2.06 goals against average and .919 save percentage. 
 

Saturday’s overtime loss to the Panthers was the sixth time this season that the Blue Jackets lost a game in which they had a lead in the third period. No lead is ever safe for this team.
 

Jet Greaves will get the start for Columbus. The Blue Jackets have points in nine straight games in which Greaves have started, but they have a losing record: 4-0-5. He’s 7-4-5 this season with a 2.81 goals against average and .901 save percentage.
 

Zach Werenski is riding high right now: he’s on a five-game point streak and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in that span. For the season, he is tied for second among defensemen in goals (nine) and alone in second in points (30). 
 

No changes are projected to the forward trios or defensive pairings. Here are the complete projections:

LW

C

RW

10

Dmitri Voronkov

19

Adam Fantilli

86

Kirill Marchenko

4

Cole Sillinger

23

Sean Monahan

91

Kent Johnson

11

Miles Wood

3

Charlie Coyle

21

Isac Lundestrom

16

Brendan Gaunce

65

Luca Del Bel Belluz

59

Yegor Chinakhov

LD

RD

8

Zach Werenski

9

Ivan Provorov

5

Denton Mateychuk

78

Damon Severson

7

Brendan Smith

15

Dante Fabbro

Starting Goalie

Back-Up

90

Elvis Merzlikins

73

Jet Greaves