That's a wrap for preseason.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
|
CBJ GOALS: |
||||
Logan Thompson made 29 saves and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored against his former club as the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Saturday night at Capital One Arena.
Columbus finished the exhibition slate of games with a 2-5-0 record while the Capitals went 5-1-0, including Tuesday's 4-3 win at Nationwide Arena.
Here are the three things from the Blue Jackets' final preseason game.
Thing One: Olivier Tally Breaks Shutout
Thompson was in vintage form as he shut down the Jackets' offense until the 18:14 mark of the third period on the power play. Olivier's third goal of the preseason made it 2-1.
Mathieu Olivier - Columbus Blue Jackets (3)*
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 5, 2025
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/6mTKYHtKgB
In the final tune-up before the regular season, Columbus generated chances offensively, having the edge in shots on goal (30-22), 5v5 shot attempts (50-36), and scoring chances (19-14) per Natural Stat Trick.
"Goalie was good, (Thompson) made some good saves," Olivier said after Saturday's loss. "I think both goalies were really good tonight. It's one of those games where we got our chances, we just couldn't bury.
"Whenever you get those chances, it's a good sign for a team, the way we played. I think it was probably our best overall game of the preseason. There's obviously stuff that we can tidy up a little bit."
Thing Two: Merzlikins Goes The Distance
Elvis Merzlikins made his second full 60-minute start of the preseason.
After a scoreless first period, the Capitals got a pair of goals from Declan Chisholm, who scored at the 2:38 mark (Assists: Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ryan Leonard), and Dubois at 10:03 (Assists: Tom Wilson, Dylan McIlrath), coming by way of a 2-on-1.
Pierre-Luc Dubois - Washington Capitals (1)* pic.twitter.com/KUH6HwyA4F
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 5, 2025
Merzlikins, who had to fight through traffic on Chisholm's opening goal, stopped 20 of 22 shots.
Declan Chisholm - Washington Capitals (1)* pic.twitter.com/11pTwTzXRS
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 5, 2025
Thing Three: Dress Rehearsal Before The Real Thing
After four games in four days to start the preseason, the load lightened up as Columbus played its final three exhibition games over the last week.
Saturday's contest featured most of the Blue Jackets' regulars, except Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan, who stayed back in Columbus for the night off.
"Obviously, we're missing (Werenski) and (Monahan)," Olivier said. "These games ... it's about analyzing the small details in our game. Not necessarily the results. Obviously, they matter, but it (regular season) starts next week. It's all the details in our system and the way we want to accomplish the way we play."
Head coach Dean Evason elaborated on some of the finer details they look for.
"We liked a lot of stuff that we did here tonight," Evason said. "We talked this morning about looking for our exits out of our zone and creating some speed and some pace.
"We didn't generate as many shots as we probably could've. We should have shot more pucks. That'll be an area that we'll talk about. Last game, we were a little cute with some stuff as opposed to getting it to the net and then getting people there. That has to be how we play.
"We just believe that once the regular season starts, we'll do all those right things. Would we like to see it tonight? Sure. But it's one of those games you're looking to get through, and we did. But we've seen a lot of positives, too."
Up Next:
The Blue Jackets open up the regular season against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, Oct. 9, from Bridgestone Arena at 8 p.m.
