Blue Jackets’ 16-game win streak, shot at history ended by Capitals

All good things must come to an end.

The Columbus Blue Jackets’ 16-game winning streak was a very, very good thing: Propelling a team that many expected to finish last in their division to the top of the National Hockey League standings, and earning that team international respect for they way it played.

And now it’s ended.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Blue Jackets, 5-0, on Thursday night, their first loss since Nov. 26 in a shootout against the Florida Panthers. The Blue Jackets were trying to tie the Pittsburgh Penguins’ NHL record for most consecutive wins in a single season at 17, which they set in 1992-93.

They had outscored their opponents 58-26 during that stretch, with a power play that was clicking at astonishing 35.1-percent in their last 11 games and with a goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky who had won 14 straight games, sporting a 1.64 GAA and a .941 save percentage.

Against the Capitals, the Jackets’ couldn’t get a puck past Braden Holtby (29 saves), went 0-for-5 on the power play and saw Bobrovsky pulled in the third period after giving up a fifth goal.

The Capitals struck at 5:06 of the first period as Daniel Winnik scored No. 6 on the season, and then added a second goal at 11:32 from John Carlson. It was just the seventh time this season in 37 games that the Jackets trailed after the first period, and just the 12th time they allowed the first goal.

It was also the first time the Blue Jackets had trailed by two goals during their streak.

Nate Schmidt, who assisted on Winnik’s goal, scored his first of the season at 7:28 of the second period. And then Andre Burakovsky scored.

The same Andre Burakovsky who said early of the win streak: “It’s going to be a really fun moment for us to end it.”

Ouch.

Justin Williams added the fifth goal for the Capitals to chase Bobrovsky.

For the Capitals, it’s a significant win: Their fourth in a row, moving to within two points of the New York Rangers for third in the division and getting to within five points of the Jackets.

For the Blue Jackets, it’s a bummer on several levels: Not only do they miss out on tying an NHL record, they miss out on a chance to set a new one at home against the New York Rangers on Saturday – and, in the process, lost a chance to appear on national television, as NBCSN was set to cover the game had the Jackets beaten the Capitals.

But they didn’t, and into history the streak fades. One hopes Columbus doesn’t do the same this season, having played brilliant and exhilarating hockey over the previous 16 games.