The Blue Jackets completed the home portion of the preseason slate with a 4-2 loss to Washington on Thursday night in Nationwide Arena.
Game in a Paragraph
A roster of Blue Jackets players battling for position on the roster found its game after a rough opening 20 minutes but couldn’t quite get back on top. Washington led 2-0 after a period and despite a CBJ tally early in the second, the Caps were able to shepherd the lead to the finish line thanks to a late shorthanded insurance marker and an empty-net goal.
CBJ Standouts
- Brendan Gaunce and Marcus Bjork both notched their first goals of the preseason.
- In net, new acquisition Spencer Martin stopped 35 shots in his CBJ debut.
Quick Recap
The Blue Jackets had trouble getting out of the gates, trailing by two and being outshot 18-5 in the opening frame. Washington pushed and got the first goal of the game at 8:14, as Alex Alexeyev’s shot from the left point bounced around the crease until Beck Malenstyn was able to whack it home past Martin. The Caps then made it a 2-0 game with 7:56 left on the first-period clock as Aliaksei Protas scored on a rebound from in front.
Columbus had a much better push in the second, including a 29-10 edge in shot attempts, and got on the board 1:25 into the frame when Brendan Gaunce put the rebound of a Denton Mateychuk shot past goalie Charlie Lindgren. Martin also had a couple of excellent saves in the period including back-to-back stops on Ivan Miroschnichenko.
The third period was a close affair before Washington got a shorthanded goal with 5:05 to go. A drop pass that missed its intended target led to a breakaway chance for Connor McMichael that Martin stopped, but Riley Sutter followed up and scored. Hendrix Lapierre then added an empty-net goal with 2:09 to go before Marcus Bjork's nice individual effort driving the net led to a tally that set the final score with 1:09 to go.
Notable
Washington had a 39-23 edge in shots on goal but only 60-54 in shot attempts thanks to 20 shots blocked by the Caps. ... Columbus closed the preseason 3-1-0 at home. … The Blue Jackets were 0 for 2 on the power play while Washington was 0-1.
Roster Report
Here is a link to the roster the Blue Jackets used for the game. Columbus completely swapped rosters from Wednesday night’s home win vs. Buffalo, while Martin wore the CBJ colors for the first time since being added on waivers Friday.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets finish the preseason with a Saturday night contest at Washington, then open the regular season Oct. 12 vs. Philadelphia.
