Blue Jackets beat Capitals in OT after Matt Calvert’s goal withstands an offside review

The Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Capitals with a goal by Matt Calvert at 12:22 of overtime in Game 2 on Sunday night:

Linesmen reviewed Columbus’ zone entry moments before Calvert’s goal, mulling whether Calvert had been offside. They decided he hadn’t been, and the goal counted.

The teams have now played two OT games to start this series, and both have ended in pain for Washington. Columbus’ Artemi Panarin scored to win Game 1 on Friday.

Both teams lost leads to bring the game to OT. The Capitals had leads of 2-0 and 3-1, and the Blue Jackets led 4-3 in the final five minutes of regulation. After defenseman Zach Werenski shot the puck over the glass from his own defensive zone for a delay-of-game penalty, T.J. Oshie took a pass from Nicklas Backstrom and snapped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky from 23 feet out to tie the game. Washington nearly scored a game-winner in regulation after another bad Columbus penalty, this one a slash by Boone Jenner. But a couple of near-misses on the ensuing power play forced the game into overtime.

The Capitals made a goaltending change after the second period. They’d started normal backup Philipp Grubauer in both of the first two games, a departure from usual starter Braden Holtby, who’s played worse than Grubauer this season. But Grubauer gave up a couple of iffy goals to his short side, and Barry Trotz removed him while facing that 4-3 deficit. Holbty is almost certainly Washington’s net-minder for the rest of this series.

Both of these Metropolitan Division teams are trying to win their first Stanley Cup. The Blue Jackets had never led a playoff series in franchise history until this weekend, and the Capitals have repeatedly fallen short in the postseason despite having dominant teams with big regular-season point totals.