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The first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs will see two Metropolitan Division giants face off in the series between the Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets. These two teams have had very different seasons in 2017-18 with the Capitals virtually being a playoff lock all year and the Blue Jackets having to jump multiple hurdles throughout the season.
The Capitals have experienced yet another solid regular season in 2017-18. They have won the Metropolitan Division for the third season in a row. Despite their success in the regular season, however, they have not been able to translate it into the postseason.
The Blue Jackets are a much different story. Finishing fourth in the division due to a very hot finish to the season has paid off in not having another playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, the Capitals are not a team to be taken lightly, even if they have had a hard time translating their successes into the postseason. Regardless of who prevails, there are a few notes as to why this will be a great series to watch.
One of the tallest tasks for the Blue Jackets will be to contain the scoring of Alex Ovechkin. While this may seem like an impossible task, keeping him within reason is a must for the Jackets. They have one of the best goalies in the league in Sergei Bobrovsky and a defensive corps that is as solid as any. They have to use these to their advantage and shut down The Russian Machine as best they can.
Outside of the 49 goals that Ovechkin scored in 2017-18, there were no other 30-plus goal scorers for the Capitals. Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov were the only other two to break the 20-goal mark, with 21 and 27 respectively. Slowing down Ovechkin and throwing the weight of scoring on the shoulders of the other Capitals players will make for a huge step for the Jackets in winning their first ever playoff series.
On the other end, the Capitals will have a Russian of their own to deal with in Artemi Panarin. While he is not the prolific goal scorer of Ovechkin, much of the Columbus offense goes through number nine. He will undeniably be the emphasis of many strategic talks for Washington leading up to the series, and rightly so.
While both Washington and Columbus will be hoping to slow down the respective Russian phenoms, it goes without saying that even when slowed down they will both still produce at an elite level.
The Columbus Blue Jackets will be led into the first round of the playoffs undoubtedly by their uncontested number one goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Meanwhile for Washington, Braden Holtby is still their starting goalie; however, Philipp Grubauer is making a case to potentially start a few playoff games if things begin to swing south for the Capitals.
Bobrovsky is coming off of a very strong season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bob posted a career high in minutes played with 3,912 and a save percentage of .921 which is exactly .001 higher than his career average.
Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, Holtby has had a bit of a down year. His save percentage of .907 is by far the worst of his career as was his goals against average of 2.99. Despite this, Holtby will almost certainly start game one just because of his playoff experience and name.
Typically backups won’t make too big of an impact in the playoffs, however, Philipp Grubauer is certainly an exception. His save percentage of .923 and goals against average of 2.35 are undoubtedly better than Holtby’s stats.