First Period
The game was quite delayed due to travel issues for the Jackets caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Would the on-ice action also get off to a late start? Absolutely not. After a few moments of settling in, the Caps got the puck into the offensive zone and Mangiapane picked off a lackluster attempt from Gambrell to move the puck up the wall. He then fed a lonely Alex Ovechkin in the slot who quickly beats Tarasov for the first of the game.
A few minutes later, Fantilli won the puck in the defensive zone and hit Voronkov moving up the ice. Voronkov made a nice move to carry the puck into the slot before setting up Fantilli to beat Lindgren cleanly from the left dot. Exactly the kind of play you hope to see often from Fantilli. D zone play, transition, finish.
Later in the period Malatesta was the beneficiary of a poor one-time setup to Ovechkin that kicked out of the offensive zone. Malatesta was in the perfect spot to get a breakaway and he buried the shot cleanly glove-side.
Celebrations would be short. 12 seconds later the Capitals entered the zone with possession and Vrana snuck one past Tarasov. Vrana has a good shot, but these are the kind of goals that plague Tarasov.
Second Period
The second period picked up right where the first left off. 2 minutes in, the Jackets had a clean breakout that resulted in McKown hitting a wide open Olivier in the slot who shot it past Lindgren for his second of the preseason. Nice passing but the Caps coaching staff won’t be thrilled with the poor line change and back check.
More nice work from Fantilli in the D Zone tipping a D-D pass from the Caps that ended up on Brindley’s stick. Gavin made a nice pass to spring Adamo on a partial breakaway who then makes a nice move to protect the puck from the back-checking Alexeyev, and then beats Lindgren for his second of the game. The Michigan boys have chemistry.
9 minutes in Jordan Harris commits the first infraction of the game with a hold in the defensive zone. Good start for the PK unit, but some low-effort defense on an entry allowed the Cap’s Cristall to complete a nice pass across the crease for an easy tap-in goal. Strome gets his 3rd of the preseason and Washington’s 3rd of the game.
The period started to open up at this point with both teams going back and forth with rush opportunities until McMichael shot the puck over the glass to give the CBJ their first PP with 6:39 remaining. Not a great start for Jiricek and the top unit giving up two odd man rushes (that resulted in little for the Caps), but once the 2nd unit came on they quickly entered the zone and Pyyhtia wired a shot past Lindgren from the high slot. 5-3.
Not long after a high stick gave Columbus another PP chance. No special moments on the ensuing Power Play with the 2nd unit again doing a better job of possessing the puck in the zone. The period came to a close after some good zone time from the Jackets.
Third Period
End of the night for Tarasov with Cajan assuming the crease for the CBJ, but not for Lindgren.
The Jackets went back on the Power Play mid-way through the period and continued to display nothing too special.
Not long after, Cajan came a bit too far out of his crease to play a long shot from the Capitals. The puck bounced around behind and Chychrun was able to pick up the leftovers and pot it behind him before he could get re-established. 5-4.
Following some Capitals zone time, another Fantilli break out pass to Brindley who moves the puck up ice and has his attempted chip inadvertently tipped by the Caps D right to Adam Fantilli. He buries the puck to complete the hatty.
With 1:39 left Sillinger is able to put one in the empty net to increase the lead to 3. A late penalty against the Jackets led to the Capitals pulling Lindgren again to get a 2-man advantage. Unfortunately for them an Olivier clear finds its way into the empty net to give us the final score of 8-4.
Takeaways
This was a certified preseason game. Neither team brought a full NHL roster and there were certain moments where the effort levels could be questioned. All that aside, this was a good showing from a CBJ roster that had a rough day of travel. The Capitals top line of Ovechkin-Strome-Mangiapane consistently controlled the play when they were on the ice but otherwise this game favored the Jackets.
Forwards
The Fantilli-Brindley pairing stood out all night to me with Malatesta just being the cherry on top. This is a fun trio of players and they were winning puck battles all over the ice tonight. There is clear chemistry between Brindley and Fantilli, but I have a hunch Brindley is just one of those guys who will make anyone look good on his line. Pyyhtia continues to produce when given the chance and looks to be a nice depth option for the org. The “top” line with Sillinger and Voronkov was pretty quiet, same with the bottom 6. Some nice moments but nothing dazzling. Even factoring in the quality of the chances, Lindgren was a terrific goalie last year and these forwards routinely beat him clean tonight.
Defense and Tending
Can’t really say anyone stood out to me from the back-end, but Jack Johnson was especially quiet. Which, I think is good? Jiricek was definitely on the ice for a handful of odd-man rushes but he had some nice recoveries to wipe them out. After last season, just having a defense that seems to know what to is nice to watch. Don’t need remarkable in the preseason, just competence.
Tarasov had a couple nice saves but the second goal is exactly the kind of goal against his detractors point to.
Up Next
Back in Columbus Saturday night for a revenge game against the Buffalo Sabres.