That's a wrap.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
CBJ GOALS: |
||||
Jakob Chychrun's third-period goal was the difference as the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena in the season finale for both teams.
The Blue Jackets dropped their final six home games (0-5-1).
Anthony Beauvillier scored for Washington. Rookie Clay Stevenson made 27 saves in his fifth career start.
Boone Jenner scored for Columbus. Jet Greaves made 19 saves.
Despite the disappointment of missing the playoffs, the Blue Jackets wanted to finish things the right way.
The game was scoreless through the first period with the Jackets outshooting Washington 11-4. Jenner scored the game's first goal 27 seconds into the second period. Beauvillier tied it at 10:46, and Chychrun's power play goal at 15:53 of the third period was the difference.
The Blue Jackets went 21-11-5 under head coach Rick Bowness.
"All you gotta do is look at the stat sheet," Bowness said. "Three hits, 23 giveaways. I don't know if I'm back, but if I'm back, I'm changing this culture. Losing is not important enough to them. It doesn't bother them. How can you go out and play like that? I should have done this about a month ago. But this is why we're out of the playoffs. That kind of effort.
"You have to hate losing. I don't care if it's a meaningless game. I don't care. Show up and compete.
"Some of those guys are so lucky the season's over, and there's no practice tomorrow.'
Here's how things went down in the Blue Jackets' final game of the season:
1st Period:
There were no goals in the first period. Columbus outshot the Capitals 11-4. Boone Jenner, Kirill Marchenko, and Mason Marchment each led Blue Jackets forwards with two shots apiece.
2nd Period:
(0:27 — CBJ Goal): Jenner scored his 13th of the season to start the second period. An unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, Tuesday could have been his last game as a member of the Blue Jackets.
#Capitals 0 @ #BlueJackets 1 [P219:33]:
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalsVideo) April 15, 2026
Goal: Boone Jenner (13)
27' Lead-Taking Snapshot
Assists: M.Marchment (26), D.Heinen (6)#AllCaps #CBJ #NHL pic.twitter.com/suA95w7OmG
Mason Marchment (26) and Danton Heinen (6) grabbed the assists. The goal to make it 1-0 was the Blue Jackets' 50th game scoring first, tied for first in the NHL with the Capitals. Jenner finished the season on a three-game point streak (two goals, one assist). He's third all-time in Blue Jackets franchise history with 212 career goals, trailing Rick Nash (289) and Cam Atkinson (213).
(10:46 — WSH Goal): Beauvillier (15) scored to even up the game 1-1. His goal was the Capitals' first shot of the second period. Trevor van Riemsdyk (11) picked up the assist with the home run pass from his own goal crease to find Beauvillier for the breakaway.
#Capitals 1 @ #BlueJackets 1 [P29:14]:
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalsVideo) April 15, 2026
Goal: Anthony Beauvillier (15)
8' Game-Tying Wrister
Assists: T.vanRiemsdyk (11)#ALLCAPS #CBJ #NHL pic.twitter.com/dEodxSrmQa
3rd Period:
(15:53 — WSH Goal): Chychrun scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal to give Washington the 2-1 win. Tom Wilson (32) and Alex Ovechkin (32) picked up the assists. If this is Ovechkin's final season, he finished with career totals of 1,573 games, 1,687 points, 929 goals, and 757 assists. Against Columbus in his career, Ovechkin scored 47 points (28 goals, 19 assists) in 54 games.
Jakob Chychrun on the power play to give Washington the lead!
— ESPN (@espn) April 15, 2026
Ovi was loving it pic.twitter.com/jyalMZ6oHK
| WSH | GAME STATS | CBJ |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | SHOTS | 28 |
| 54 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 52 |
| 29 | SCORING CHANCES | 25 |
| 13 | HIGH-DANGER CHANCES | 10 |
| 53.3% | FACEOFF PERCENTAGE | 46.7% |
| 1/3 | POWER PLAY | 0/1 |
| 1/1 | PENALTY KILL | 2/3 |
| 14 | HITS | 3 |
| 13 | GIVEAWAYS | 23 |
| 2 | TAKEAWAYS | 7 |
| 11 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 16 |
Stat Chat:
-
Adam Fantilli, Charlie Coyle, and Ivan Provorov each played in all 82 games. Fantilli played in all 82 games for the second consecutive season; Coyle, the fourth consecutive season; Provorov, the seventh consecutive season.
-
Zach Werenski finished with 59 assists, tying his 2024-25 career high and franchise high alongside Artemi Panarin (2018-19).
-
After calling over 1,000 career games, the original Blue Jackets P.A., Greg Murray, called his final game as he has retired at the conclusion of the final game.
- If career game No. 1,573 was the final game for Ovechkin, it was a legendary career. The greatest goal scorer of all time has not decided if he will retire or return for his 22nd season. He played in all 82 games this season at the age of 40, the first time he's done so since 2017-18. Ovechkin started his career against the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Oct. 5, 2005, scoring the first two of his 929 career goals.
Up Next:
The 2026-27 season opener.
