The Washington Capitals fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 8-4 Friday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The loss gives the Capitals a 1-3-0 record in the preseason, with just two more tuneups before opening night. The start time for this game was delayed from 7PM to 8:40PM due to travel issues encountered by the Blue Jackets.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren made his first appearance of the preseason, starting in goal. Daniil Tarasov got the start between the pipes for the Blue Jackets. The forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals’ fourth preseason game:
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Andrew Mangiapane
Jakub Vrana – Connor McMichael – Ethan Frank
Sonny Milano – Henrik Rybinski – Ivan Miroshnichenko
Andrew Cristall – Mike Sgarbossa – Pierrick Dube
Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Alex Alexeyev – Vincent Iorio
Nick Leivermann – Ethan Bear
Charlie Lindgren
Clay Stevenson
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals struck first with a close-range shot from Alex Ovechkin (1) at 6:58 of the first frame. A. Mangiapane (1) Had the lone helper.
Alex Ovechkin goal alert 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9nPryQKGj2
— NHL (@NHL) September 28, 2024
The Jackets answered midway in the period with a tally from Adam Fantilli at 10:47 of the opening stanza. D. Voronkov (1) had the assist.
Voronkov finds Fantilli off the rush who ties it up at 1! pic.twitter.com/ViEAJW5AHj
— The CBJ Center (@CBJcenter) September 28, 2024
The Blue Jackets took their first lead of the night after Alex Ovechkin turned the puck over at center ice. James Malatesta would finish on the breakaway.
MALATESTA ON THE BREAKAWAY 🚨@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/7uhMLpH3qZ
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 28, 2024
But the Capitals answered on the very next shift. Jakub Vrana notched his first tally of the preseason at 14:01. C. McMichael (1) and J. Carlson (1) had the assists.
Vrana goal? Vrana goal! pic.twitter.com/IZDKeuESLM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 28, 2024
The first frame concluded with the game tied, 2-2. The Capitals led in shots on goal, 10-9.
SECOND PERIOD
The Blue Jackets took a 3-2 lead at 2:56 of the second period with a tally from Mathieu Olivier.
OLLIE WANTED IN ON THE ACTION! @FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/BmNa6MGvCZ
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 28, 2024
The Jackets stretched their lead to 4-2 on Adam Fantilli’s second goal of the game at 5:25 of the middle frame.
BRINDS ➡️ MO ➡️ GOOOALLL!!!@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/XWdJH0p4Cp
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 28, 2024
The Capitals closed the game to a single goal with a power play goal from Dylan Strome at 10:01.
Andrew Cristall is gonna be a player, folks
Sweet dish to Dylan Strome for this PPG pic.twitter.com/mBMm0JCcCJ
— Ethan Cadeaux (@Ethan_Cadeaux) September 28, 2024
The Blue Jackets restored their two-goal lead with a tally from Mikael Pyyhtia at 14:49 of the second period.
The Jackets held the 5-3 lead into the second intermission. Columbus led in shots on goal 19-17 after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals cut the Jackets lead to a single goal on Jakob Chychrun’s first goal of the preseason at 11:46. E. Bear (1) and S. Milano (1) had the helpers.
#ALLCAPS 4-5 JAKOB CHYCHRUN IS A WASHINGTON CAPITAL pic.twitter.com/3dGycr2gLK
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) September 28, 2024
The Blue Jackets restored their two-goal lead on Adam Fantilli’s third goal of the game at 15:59 of the final frame.
The Blue Jackets added two empty net goals to make it 8-4, the final.
By Jon Sorensen