Sunday, December 7, 2025 – 7:00 PM ET
Capital One Arena – Washington, DC
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (13-9-6, 32 points, 8th Metro, 12th East)
at
Washington Capitals (17-9-3, 37 points, 1st Metro, 1st East)
Previously
The Blue Jackets traveled to South Florida to face the reeling Panthers, and once again blew a couple leads prior to losing in overtime, 7-6. Dean Evason afterward said the game was “a joke.” I would say the joke is this coach refusing to address what is clearly a systemic problem with this team and their late-game approach.
Now, the officiating was truly atrocious and there was one CBJ goal overturned that probably shouldn’t have been, and two Florida goals that counted that also should not have. But even a 7-4 regulation win would leave me with some concerns about the Columbus defense, penalty kill, and goaltending.
Elvis Merzlikins started his third game in a row, and while the Jackets earned points in all three games, there were diminishing returns with 3, then 5, then 7 goals allowed. Presumably we’ll see Jet Greaves back in net for this divisional battle.
Stats
| Washington | Columbus | |
| 3.48 (2) | GPG | 3.07 (12) |
| 2.48 (2) | GAPG | 3.43 (26) |
| 16.7 (23) | PP% | 19.1 (15) |
| 74.4 (28) | PK% | 70.7 (30) |
| 52.9 (4) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 50.5 (15) |
| 53.4 (4) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 49.7 (19) |
| 10.9 (3) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.3 (18) |
| 92.5 (5) | 5v5 Save % | 90.8 (15) |
| Tom Wilson (17) | G Leader | Adam Fantilli (11) |
| J. Carlson, D. Strome (17) | A Leader | Zach Werenski (21) |
| Tom Wilson (31) | P Leader | Zach Werenski (30) |
| Tom Wilson (54) | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier (44) |
| 9-5-1 | Home/Road | 7-6-3 |
| 8-1-1 | Last 10 | 4-2-4 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Kirill Marchenko |
| Kent Johnson | Sean Monahan | Cole Sillinger |
| Miles Wood | Charlie Coyle | Isac Lundestrom |
| Yegor Chinakhov | Brendan Gaunce | Luca Del Bel Belluz |
| Zach Werenski | Ivan Provorov |
| Denton Mateychuk | Damon Severson |
| Brendan Smith | Dante Fabbro |
| Jet Greaves |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
Washington Capitals
| Alex Ovechkin | Dylan Strome | Anthony Beauvillier |
| Aliaksei Protas | Justin Sourdif | Tom Wilson |
| Connor McMichael | Nic Dowd | Ethen Frank |
| Brandon Duhaime | Hendrix Lapierre | Bogdan Trineyev |
| Martin Fehervary | Rasmus Sandin |
| Jakob Chychrun | Matt Roy |
| Declan Chisholm | Trevor van Riemsdyk |
| Logan Thompson |
| Charlie Lindgren |