by Columbus, OH – Jet Greaves had a 22 save shutout today as the Blue Jackets cruised to a 7-0 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals. This one was over early as the Blue Jackets overwhelmed the Capitals for 6 goals in the first 30 minutes of action. They also shot 7 of 26 to make Capitals goaltender Hunter Shepards life miserable in only his 4th career start.
Adam Fantilli continues to be a star on the rise as he had 2 more goals today. Leading the Blue Jackets in overall points today was James van Riemsdyk with a goal and two assists for a 3 point night. They appear to be firing on all cylinders right now with their fourth straight win.
It took the Blue Jackets exactly one minute of action to find the back of the net as Zach Werenski scored with an assist from Sean Monohan. With that goal, his 21rst, Werenski set a Blue Jackets single season record for goals scored by a defenseman.
Less then 4 minutes later, they struck again to increase the lead to 2-0 with 15:12 to go. This time it was from Kent Johnson, his 23rd of the season with the assist coming from James Van Riemsdyk. The Jackets scored on their first two shots of the game as it was wild! Not only that, but they achieved a third goal right after that, called back for linesman interference, keeping the lead at 2-0.
The Jackets ended the first period the same way they started it, with more scoring! This time the goal coming from their captain center and leading scorer Adam Fantilli. This increased the lead to 3-0. It was his 26th goal of the season. The period ended by that same score with the Jackets up 3-0 as Jet Greaves finished the frame with 6 saves on 6 shots.
The second period began the same way the first one ended, with the Jackets scoring again! This time it was Fantilli with an absolute launch from the blue line that pierced the net from long distance! This made it 4-0 Jackets with 17:59 still to play in the second quarter. It was a shot you’d see in the Mighty Ducks by Fulton Reed, just insane power.
The Jackets remained red hot and less then 90 seconds later did it again, this time the goal coming from Monahan on a rebound off the pad of Hunter Shepard to increase the lead to 5-0 with 15:15 left to play in the second.
They still weren’t done however, as less then 20 seconds later it was Cole Sillinger making it 6-0 with a shot on goal that went in. Crazy action between the pipes as the Blue Jackets found the net 3 times in 5 minutes to make it 6-0 with 13:46 left to play in the second.
The Jackets added one more goal in the third by James van Riemsdyk to cruise to the 7-0 victory. The win improves the overall season series to 2-1 Washington. The Jackets will have a chance to even it up for the year tomorrow night in Washington. That one is set for a 6pm puck drop.
