Can you believe we are on the fifth preseason game already? We are only 10 days from opening night (9 if you are reading this on Tuesday), and it will be here before you know it.
The Blue Jackets played a mixed lineup at home against the Capitals. Notably, Del Bel Belluz had the opportunity to center two NHL players. The presumed NHL first line played in its second straight game, as did the Werenski-Severson pair.
1st Period
There was a lot of sloppy hockey in the first five minutes. The Capitals recorded the only shot on net, which was an easy stop for Tarasov.
After a beautiful cross-ice pass from Del Bel Belluz, Werenski showed some excellent stick-handling ability, decking and driving to the net. Unfortunately, Thompson was able to stuff the shot. I loved Werenski’s aggressiveness and would not mind seeing more of that from him.
The Capitals struck first when Severson lost a puck battle at his own blue line. That led to a Nic Dowd shot that Tarasov had little chance of saving.
WSH Goal 1-0: Dowd (Duhaime) 6:49
Moments later, the Jackets tied the game when future all-star Denton Mateychuk buried a nasty wrist shot off the rush.
CBJ Goal 1-1: Mateychuk (Marchenko, Monahan) 7:12
What stood out in the first period was the pace at which the Blue Jackets played. Sure, they made mistakes, but they played faster and more aggressively than the Caps. After 20 minutes, shots favored Washington 9-7, while the Jackets won the scoring chance battle 9-4.
2nd Period
Tom Wilson got the Caps the lead early in the period when he deflected a point shot.
WSH Goal 2-1: Wilson (T. van Riemsdyk, McMichael) 0:48
Halfway through the period, Wilson went to the box for interference. The first power play unit was essentially an NHL lineup and managed a couple of good looks. However, the Caps were able to kill off the penalty.
Shortly after the penalty expired, Severson got booked for holding. Luckily, the Jackets killed off the penalty without much trouble. One of the kill units was Johnson, Monahan, Werenski, and Christiansen. Sign me up for that becoming a thing.
With 30 seconds to go in the period, a giant scrum ensued after Marchenko boarded a Captial, resulting in a penalty. Moments later, Gudbranson went off for high sticking, giving the Caps a 5-on-3. Dubois would capitalize with only 0.5 seconds left on the clock.
WSH PP Goal 3-1: Dubois (Wilson, Miroshnichenko) 19:59
The second period was all Capitals, though the Blue Jackets still led in overall scoring chances. Guess which defensive pair led in xGF% through 40 minutes? If you guessed Mateychuk-Christiansen, you’d be right. Mateychuk continues to look the part of an NHL defenseman, but look out AHL if this defensive pair gets sent to Cleveland.
3rd Period
The Jackets killed off the remainder of the Gudbranson penalty to start the period.
McKown went hard to the net on the rush and straight into Thompson. Watching the replay, McKown was clearly pushed from behind before hitting Thompson, but the refs gave him two minor penalties anyway – one for roughing and one for goalie interference. DuhaimeĀ was also given a roughing penalty, resulting in a two-minute Capitals power play.
Again, the Jackets’ penalty kill was successful in 5-on-4.
Werenski got a breakaway from a fantastic feed through the neutral zone. Thompson was barely able to make the save. In fact, he didn’t even know he had.
The lead was reduced to one after JVR found LDBB crashing in the right circle. LDBB was able to get a quick, deceptive shot in on Thompson and scored top cheese. That was an NHL-quality shot by Luca.
CBJ Goal 3-2: Del Bel Belluz (van Riemsdyk, Christiansen) 14:58
The Jackets went empty net with more than 3:30 left in the game. They were able to make a push and keep the puck out of their own net, but the final result was 3-2.
Final Thoughts
It was not a great night for the NHL forwards, with maybe Marchenko being an exception. The top two lines spent way too much time chasing the puck in their own zone. With home-ice advantage, you would expect to see them have more offensive success against a partially AHL lineup.
Severson continues to struggle. There is hope that he can turn his game around in a new system, but I have doubts that he’s the right partner for Werenski. Hopefully, the coaching staff can figure that out before October 10th. The Jackets need the veteran righty to play a consistently solid game if they want not to be bottom-dwellers.
Tarasov was fine. He let in 3 goals on 2.3 expected, but I’m not sure he had a chance on any of them.
Mateychuk led the team in both CF% and xGF%. He looked every bit like an NHL player out there. If I’m being honest, he looks like this team’s second-best defenseman, period. His partner Christiansen also had a good game. Together, they combined for five individual scoring chances, including one goal.
Werenski looked aggressive and ready to take his offensive game to the next level. His stat sheet wasn’t great, but how much of that was due to the poor play of Severson and the top two forward lines?
Up Next
The Jackets are back at it tomorrow night as they travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues. The puck drops at 8:00 PM EDT.