Capitals tie series with Game 4 win, fulfilling Ovechkin’s prediction

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alex “Nostradamus” Ovechkin nailed his prediction. The Washington Capitals will bring their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series back to Capital One Arena tied 2-2.

His statement earlier this week — “We’re going to come home for Game 5, and for Game 5 it’s going to be tied” — doesn’t have the same ring to it as Joe Namath’s historic “We’re going to win Sunday, I guarantee it.” But right is right.

Ovechkin’s even-strength goal early in the third period put the game out of reach for Columbus, and the Capitals won the first game of this series to conclude in regulation, 4-1, Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.

Evgeny Kuznetsov had an empty-net goal and two assists, Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie also scored and Braden Holtby made 23 saves. The series resumes with Game 5 in Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m.

 Ovechkin’s prediction was a symbol of the Capitals’ collective confidence that after losing Games 1 and 2 in their building, they could win two games in Ohio. When Holtby was asked why the players were sure they would pull it off, he said, “There’s no other option.”

“We’ve been a confident group all year,” Holtby said. “I think that’s been our strongest asset. I don’t think we’ve ever doubted ourselves that way.”

“We felt like we played well enough to win those first two games, and I think a lot of guys felt we still had a couple levels higher that we could’ve went,” Oshie said. “It wasn’t necessarily an arrogance or thinking we’re better. It’s just believing in what we can do and believing in our systems and our team depth and strength.”

The Capitals continued their streak of opening the scoring in every game of the series, and in Game 4 it happened on a bizarre play.

John Carlson and Chandler Stephenson had a 2-on-1 rush, and after Carlson’s initial shot was stoned, Stephenson nearly curled the puck in behind Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Thomas Vanek was there to fall on it and swatted it out wide, but Kuznetsov was there to pass it to Wilson for a one-timer near the blue line.

The Capitals later failed to put a shot on goal on a 3-on-1, while the Blue Jackets only put seven shots on goal in the first period despite a few wide-open chances. But things got chippy in the final minute after two questionable penalties. Wilson was sent off for tripping, a call Ovechkin debated with two officials for more than a few seconds.

But Artemi Panarin was called for hooking four seconds into Columbus’s power play. No one scored during the resulting four-on-four, which ran out in the early second period.

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella later said there was “no sense yelling at the opposing team.”

“It’s us that’s doing it to ourselves. They’re not doing anything, they’re just outplaying us,” Tortorella said.

Columbus’s mistakes continued when Panarin was called for his second penalty of the night 8:49 into the second for slashing Kuznetsov, and when Bobrovsky stopped a close shot from Ovechkin on the power play, Oshie scored easily on the putback.

The Capitals had blown leads in each of the three prior games, but sealed Game 4 when Ovechkin put them up three goals three minutes into the third with a short wrister from the right circle. Kuznetsov got the assist after digging out a pass from behind the net.

Boone Jenner got his stick on a Josh Anderson shot a few minutes later for a redirect goal to ruin Holtby’s chance at a shutout, but that was all the Blue Jackets mustered. Panarin, the Blue Jackets’ leading scorer and star, finished the game with more penalties (two) than shots on goal (one). Capitals coach Barry Trotz said the team did not do anything special to render him a nonfactor.

“We didn’t shadow him or anything. We just played a solid team game and when you play a solid team game you can eliminate a lot of difference-makers, if you will,” Trotz said. “It was everybody was connected. All five guys on the ice I thought were pretty connected for us tonight.”

The Jackets passed poorly all night and did not generate many shots on goal, taking into consideration some of the open chances they had. Still, Holtby said they were strong in front of the net and credited Washington’s defense.

“The shots (Columbus) got had some sort of net presence or something like that from the end zone standpoint, and I thought our guys did a great job of blocking shots, tying up sticks, limiting deflections, making those plays that can become dangerous less dangerous by battling and being fully committed,” Holtby said. “All six of them plus our forwards in those positions did a great job of that.”

In the other net, Bobrovsky’s 29 saves for Columbus kept the game from ever becoming a blowout, but he was their lone bright spot. Tortorella was as direct as ever when speaking after the game.

“That’s called a good-ol’-fashioned laying an egg, right through our lineup,” the fiery coach said. “It was unexpected. It happens. We just gotta move by it and get ready for our next game.”

Tortorella said he will not “need to say a word to the team about what happened tonight,” and the more he was asked about various elements of the loss, the more insistent he grew.