Final Score: Capitals 4 – Blue Jackets 1

Game Summary

Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella's summation of Game 4?

"We laid an egg. We sucked." #CBJ

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 20, 2018

Tortorella sums up this game perfectly. What a terrible effort in what was a must win game. The Jackets had a chance to defend home ice and push the Capitals to the brink of elimination and they absolutely laid an egg. This was one of the worst games of the season to watch. It was boring, had no pace, the Jackets looked slow, they had no jump and they were never able to get the crowd involved.

If you look at the numbers you might be tricked into thinking the Jackets played well; they had a 52.63% Corsi. Alison Lukan over at The Athletic had a great article this morning on this very subject, which I would highly recommend checking out.

Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella's summation of Game 4?

"We laid an egg. We sucked." #CBJ

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 20, 2018

One of the takeaways was the Jackets had plenty of shot attempts but many were blocked. They only had 24 shots in total for the game. This is very poor for a team that averaged 33.7 shots a game during the regular season. The shots the Jackets were getting through were clean looks that Braden Holtby was stopping easily.

It seemed like the only time the Jackets got a shot with traffic was on their goal. Boone Jenner who had a much needed really strong game, got himself into a battle in front, he was able to screen Holtby and tip Josh Anderson’s shot.

Correction: Boone Jenner gets a stick on the puck. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/pBfl5zURqj

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 20, 2018

This goal came mid-way through the third period and it was too little too late for the Jackets to gain any sort of momentum from it. They we down three at the time, and even making it a two goal deficit it felt insurmountable with the way the team playing.

Sergei Bobrovsky was good in net. He was about the only player who showed up. He kept the game close for as long as he could. He had no help in front of him whatsoever.

This series is now a best of three, with the Jackets no longer having home ice. They need to come out much better than they showed in this game. Game 5 goes Saturday in Washington at 3pm.

Stat of the Night

For the 2nd-straight game, a record crowd @NationwideArena (reg. season/playoffs). On Tuesday, it was 19,337 patrons and tonight it's 19,395 in attendance. #CBJ

— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) April 20, 2018

Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and Hockey-Reference.

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