Capitals forward Boyd Gordon was simply skating around the ice during warm-ups when the back spasms that have plagued him at times this season flared up once again.
» Center Nicklas Backstrom, 21, was chosen Friday to participate in the NHL’s YoungStars game on Jan. 24 during All-Star weekend in Montreal. He joins 20 other first and second-year players in a three-on-three game at Bell Centre. Backstrom has 12 goals and 33 assists this season.
» Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said forward Boyd Gordon was scratched with back spasms, an injury that caused him to miss a pair of games earlier this season. He is not expected to play tonight against Montreal at Bell Center.
» Defenseman Tyler Sloan was recalled from AHL Hershey on Friday and started for Jeff Schultz, who is again struggling with the aftermath of a broken finger. Schultz originally suffered the injury on Nov. 24 and missed 15 games before returning Dec. 28.
» The Caps at least temporarily pushed back a decision on the status of rookie defenseman Karl Alzner. Forward Sergei Fedorov — with his $4 million salary — was activated from the Long Term Injured Reserve list on Friday while defenseman Tom Poti (groin) was placed on the list — saving salary-cap space for Alzner. Poti is eligible to return next Wednesday.
» Forwards Michael Nylander and Eric Fehr were healthy scratches thanks to the return of forwards Fedorov (ankle) and Tomas Fleischmann (pneumonia). It was the second scratch of the season for Nylander, who also sat out the Nov. 14 game vs. New Jersey. He has just three goals and 15 assists on the season.
» The Caps recorded 45 shots on goal, their third-highest total of the year. However, they are 2-3 when topping 40 shots.
» Washington hosted its seventh straight home sellout (18,277) on Friday night. That is one shy of the franchise record for consecutive sellouts. Average attendance for the year is now 17,960 through 21 home games.
Just like that — before the puck had even been dropped — the Caps were down a man and without one of their best penalty killers.
It was that kind of night for Washington, which peppered Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason with 45 shots on Friday night at Verizon Center. The rookie, with a little help from his posts and crossbar and a lot from the rock-solid defensemen in front of him, stopped every single one as Columbus left the District with a 3-0 victory.
“You’ve got to be able to stay the course,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “We got frustrated and when you get frustrated you try to do it yourself and you become individualistic and the game plan goes right out the window.”
It was the Caps’ first home loss since Dec. 2 against Florida, a run of nine games that fell one shy of tying the franchise record, and also the end of a seven-game winning streak. It was Mason’s second shutout of the season against Washington and sixth overall. He stopped 26 shots in a 3-0 win at Columbus on Nov. 29.
R.J. Umberger, Fedor Tyutin and Jared Boll all scored for the Blue Jackets (19-18-4, 42 points), the final two on the power play. Boll’s was the killer, however. He had drawn a pair of two-minute penalties on Caps forward Donald Brashear with 7 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the game. Washington killed the first penalty, but Boll whacked home a rebound for his first goal of the season and a 3-0 lead at 14:51.
The Caps (27-12-3, 57 points) didn’t take advantage of a shorthanded Columbus team that was missing its top two goal scorers — star forward Rick Nash (sprained left knee) and forward Kristian Huselius. But one of the NHL’s most sound defensive clubs played coach Ken Hitchcock’s system to perfection, frustrating the Caps with 16 blocked shots.
“They played the perfect game for what they had in the lineup,” Boudreau said.
When there were breakdowns, Mason remained poised in his net. The 20-year-old, who was playing junior hockey in Canada just a year ago, played well despite muscle spasms of his own that almost kept him from playing at all.
“Frustrating? That’s for other leagues, you know,” said Caps forward Sergei Fedorov. “There is no frustration in this league. You have to keep working and match the opponent’s effort. Then you’re going to be successful.”
Gordon’s absence meant less playing time than usual for fourth-liners Brashear (six shifts) and Matt Bradley (nine shifts). Instead, third-line center David Steckel and third-line winger Brooks Laich took turns anchoring that line.
Umberger opened the scoring for Columbus at 9:27 of the first period. Tyutin’s goal really hurt – a point shot on the power play at 18:06 of the second. Boll added the backbreaker late in the third.
“The way Columbus plays when they get the lead like that they just sit back,” Boudreau said. “And then they waited for us to take some dumb penalties and they capitalized.”
