The Blue Jackets hit the road to our nation’s capital Friday night for the third preseason game of the fall and put together an offensive explosion, downing Washington by an 8-4 score.
Game in a Paragraph
Columbus battled through a travel delay to post an emphatic victory against their Metropolitan Division rivals. Highlighted by Adam Fantilli’s hat trick, Columbus pulled away against a veteran Caps roster, scoring twice in the opening period, three times in the second and three more in the third to earn its second victory of the postseason.
Quote of the Game
Fantilli: "I had a lot of fun. We didn't have much to think about tonight. We didn't have any video when we got here. We just kind of got dressed and went out for warmups. When you don't think, sometimes you can surprise yourself. I was playing with two really good players tonight and we had a lot of fun."
CBJ Standouts
- Fantilli’s hat trick came in his second postseason contest of the year.
- His former Michigan teammate Gavin Brindley had a pair of assists while playing on the same line as Fantilli.
- Mathieu Olivier tallied twice and now has three goals in two preseason games.
How It Happened
The teams played an entertaining first period, trading the lead in the first 20 minutes. Alex Ovechkin started the scoring at 6:58 as Andrew Mangiapane forced a turnover and fed Ovechkin for a quick snap shot past Tarasov, but the Blue Jackets tied the score at 10:47 on the rush as Dmitri Voronkov fed Fantilli for a wrist shot from the left circle by goalie Charlie Lindgren. Columbus took a 2-1 lead at 13:49 when Malatesta beat Lindgren clean on a breakaway, but the Caps tied it 12 seconds later as Jakub Vrana got behind the defense and beat Tarasov five-hole.
The second period also featured four goals, but three of them were scored by the Blue Jackets. Olivier started the party just 2:50 into the frame when he got behind the defense and fired Hunter McKown’s pass past Lindgren, and Fantilli notched his second tally of the night at 5:25 as he raced in after a Caps turnover and converted a breakout feed from Gavin Brindley. Washington cut the lead to 4-3 at 10:01 with Dylan Strome’s power-play goal, but Columbus restored the two-goal advantage at 14:49 with its own power-play tally as Brindley weaved his way through the defense and fed Mikael Pyythia for a wrist shot that beat Lindgren through a screen.
Washington threatened to get back in the game in the third when Jacob Chychrun took a shot off the back wall and tucked it by Pavel Cajan with 8:17 to go to make it 5-4, but Fantilli slammed the door with 4:00 left. Brindley entered the zone and tried to center the puck, but it went off a Washington stick right to the onrushing Fantilli, who quickly fired past Lindgren from the left side. Cole Sillinger and Olivier then added empty-net goals to set the final score.
Notable
Pyyhtia had a goal and an assist to make it four CBJ players with multiple points. ... Tarasov stopped 14 of 17 shots against while Cajan made eight saves on nine shots. ... Fantilli and Samuel Knazko were plus-4 while Cole Clayton finished plus-3. ... Columbus had a 20-7 edge in hits, including 14-1 in the first period. ... The game was delayed by more than 90 minutes because of the Blue Jackets’ travel issues getting to DC.
Roster Report
Here is the roster the Blue Jackets used for their third preseason contest.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets are right back at it Saturday night as they welcome Buffalo to Nationwide Arena for preseason game No. 4 on the season. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
