Nash, Mason lead Jackets past Caps 3-0  (11/29/08)
by Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired, Photos by Dave Weissman

Alexander Ovechkin may be the premier player in the National Hockey League, but Rick Nash was the best player on the ice Saturday night.  Nash scored two goals and played stellar defense to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets past the Washington Capitals 3-0 in front of 17,448 in Nationwide Arena.

Steve Mason stopped all 26 shots he faced including six from Ovechkin. Mason said it was “pretty weird” playing against the shot of the Russian superstar, who came into the game with a 10-game point streak (11 goals, 11 assists).

“He has a pretty big hook on his stick, so (the puck) comes off really quick,” Mason said. “It’s almost like he catches the puck on his stick and lets it rip.”

For Mason, it’s his second career shutout in a week after shutting out Atlanta 2-0 on Nov. 22. He is 5-2-1 in eight games and head coach Ken Hitchcock said he would start Monday against Vancouver.

 

The Blue Jackets defense was a big help for Mason. Mike Commodore and Jan Hejda were matched up on Ovechkin’s line most of the night as were the line of Mike Peca, Fredrik Modin and Raffi Torres, who also scored.

“Mason was great—he held us in there,” Nash said. “And all our defenseman—especially the pair of Commodore and Hejda—they stopped (Ilya) Kovalchuck (last week) and stopped Ovechkin Those guys deserve a lot of credit.”

The game seemed to mirror the last three home games for the Jackets—all losses—where the team dominated play, but fell flat. Columbus outshot Washington 31-26 and seemed to have control throughout.

“We have to manage the game the right way,” Hitchcock said. “All of our games are going to be close and if you manage the game the right way, the other team will crack.”

The Jackets did not crack, like they did in their last two games—both losses. Columbus gave up the game-winning goals against both Phoenix (Wednesday) and Detroit (Friday) in the final three minutes in games where they played well enough to win.

Columbus took the lead when Torres tapped in a deflected shot off the skate of Modin at 8:01 of the first period. The initial shot came from Marc Methot at the blue line as a Jackets power play expired.

It was Torres’ first goal as a Blue Jacket as he continues to return to game-form coming off knee surgery late last season. He has three assists on the season as well.

“I feel like every day I get a little bit better, and getting my timing a little bit more,” he said. “The rest just comes from moving my feet. It’s good to finally get a goal.”

Nash scored his 11th of the season off a feed from R.J. Umberger on a break-a-way at 14:44 of the second to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead.

The captain added a short-handed goal midway through the third period on a break-a-away.

The penalty kill was stellar, stopping all five Capital attempts and gaining the short-handed goal by Nash. They held Washington to seven shots on goal in those five attempts.

“(Washington is) a really physical, big team and they make you play,” Hitchcock said. “If you don’t play, then they will push you right out of the building. Tonight, we finished the job.”

Brent Johnson ended the game with 28 saves for the Capitals, who have lost four straight road games.

“I thought Columbus played a really good game,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. “They came out, got the lead and never stopped. They took advantage of their chances in the last two periods. Mason was pretty good.”

Columbus hosts Vancouver Monday at 7 p.m. before heading on a three-game, west coast swing to San Jose, L.A. and Anahiem.