After the Washington Capitals held on for a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, coach Barry Trotz emerged perplexed that he lost his first challenge under the league’s expanded goalie interference replay rule.
Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie each scored and Braden Holtby made 29 saves to help the Capitals avoid back-to-back losses after falling, 3-1, to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
On the only shot to slip by Holtby, Matt Calvert’s rebound wrister late in the third period, Trotz believed Boone Jenner had interfered with his goalie and challenged the officials under a rule introduced this season.
Referees upheld the goal despite replays that suggested Jenner may have made contact with Holtby as he made his first save of Calvert and attempted a second.
“If it doesn’t allow him to play goal, is what I’m told, then it’s not a goal,” Trotz said. “And that’s how I felt. We’ll have to get clarification.”
Washington’s Dmitry Orlov had a goal taken away against the San Jose Sharks earlier this month on a similar interference review, adding to Trotz’s confusion.
“I’m not quite sure what the standard is,” Trotz said. “We’ve had two [reviews], and they’re vastly different. So, a little bit vague on that.”
The Capitals still survived against the Blue Jackets, who continue to look reinvigorated under new coach John Tortorella.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots for the Blue Jackets, who fell to 2-2 under Tortorella. He took over when Todd Richards was fired following seven consecutive losses to begin the season.
“We struggled a bit in the neutral zone in the second period, but I also saw some good things,” said Tortorella, whose team has scored two goals or fewer in seven of 11 games. “That’s a good hockey team we played against. We got to get our offense right.”
Williams scored his second goal of the season to give Washington the lead at 14:16 in the second, taking Marcus Johansson’s pass and firing a one-timer through traffic, over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder and into the top right corner.
After Washington killed two penalties, Oshie’s fourth goal made it 2-0 at 11:59 in the third when the Capitals finished a 3-on-2 breakaway.
Alex Ovechkin carried the puck down the left and passed across to Nicklas Backstrom, who tapped it back for Oshie to fire a one-time slap shot into the top right corner.
It was one of the few sequences all evening where the Capitals found open ice against their Metropolitan Division rivals. Washington scored four goals or more in five of its six previous wins.
“It’s going to be a lot of grinding,” Backstrom said. “You’re not going to score six, seven goals every game. This is the way the game’s going to be in the future.”
The Blue Jackets began brightly with 10 shots in the first period, one more than they had over the first two periods of Tuesday’s 3-1 win at New Jersey.
The Capitals still had the best chance of the first on a late power play, with Bobrovsky denying Oshie’s rebound from in close after stopping Ovechkin’s slap shot.
Early in the second, Holtby extended his right pad to make a similar stop on Jenner’s rebound attempt following William Karlsson’s slap shot.
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