After a lackluster effort against the Winnipeg Jets at Nationwide Arena Friday, the Columbus Blue Jackets took to the road Saturday to take on the Washington Capitals. Like the Jets, the Caps are off to a hot start, going 8-2 in their first 10 games.

Washington turned the dial to blazing Saturday, taking a 5-0 lead after a period of play and going on to win 6-2 at Capital One Arena. To make matters more frustrating, Columbus led the stat sheet in shots (36-22), face-offs won (60.3%-39.7%), takeaways (10-4), and power play minutes (6-2).

What went wrong? “You get down early, then all of a sudden you think you got to open it up and you got to be a little more offensive and try to score goals, as opposed to staying sound and simple and allow that to translate into offense,” said head coach Dean Evason after the game.

Veteran blue-liner Jack Johnson put it more succinctly, “We got beat up the ice in the first period time and time again there. And next thing you know, you’re done five nothing. I felt like their second wave killed us.” 

The Blue Jackets did find their game after the disastrous first period, matching Washington’s next two goals with two goals of their own. With just 49 seconds off the clock to begin the second period, Damon Severson scored his third goal of the season. Kevin Labanc recorded his first goal of the campaign later in the second.

The Jackets have a couple of days off, then head to the West Coast. They play the San Jose Sharks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Seattle Kraken over eight days beginning Nov. 5.

“We have to respond, obviously, if we want to be a relevant team this year,” noted Damon Severson. “And we’ve shown that we can, you know, be one of the best teams and play with and beat some of the top teams in the League when we are at our game.”