Columbus Blue Jackets @ Washington Capitals: 2025 Preseason Game 7

The opening period of this game would be a standoff between goalies Logan Thompson of the Capitals and Elvis Merzlikins of the Blue Jackets. It would end as it began, 0-0. Period 2 would see the Blue Jackets take chances with good offense, but no goals would come of it. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the Capitals, who were held to minimal offense but cashed in on their few opportunities. 

The Capitals would gain a 1-0 lead after Declan Chisholm would pop the puck past Elvis Merzlikins' visitor net. This would be his first goal of the preseason, and it would come just 2:38 into Period 2. Ivan Miroshnichenko would add his second assist this season with the primary, while Ryan Leonard would add his first this preseason with the secondary. The Capitals would then double up at home at 10:03 with some help from a former Blue Jacket. It would be Pierre-Luc Dubois' laser slapshot goal, his first this preseason, that gave his home team the 2-0 lead. Tom Wilson would add his second assist with the primary, while Dylan McIlrath would add his first assist this preseason on the secondary. Remember how I often remind fans that sometimes it's quality over quantity? If you add an extra shot on goal to these two goals, that's the total for the Capitals in the second period. Yeah. The Blue Jackets would have four times this for the middle period alone. None of those shots were bad, either. Sometimes these things happen, no matter how good the Jackets play. 

Period 3 would see Logan Thompson continue to be a pain in the Blue Jackets' butt. What can you say, when it's a goalie's night, it's a goalie's night. But, finally, at 1814, Mathieu Olivier would slap that puck into the back of the Capitals' home net! This goal would be all his own, on the power play, with no assists, and it would be his third goal this preseason. The Blue Jackets would push till the end, which we love to see, but the tying goal would elude them. The Capitals would win at home 2-1, taking both preseason games against the Blue Jackets in 2025. 

Elivs Merzlikins would finish with a .909 save percentage. He played the full game, stopping 20 of the 22 Capitals shots on his net. 

The Third Star of the Game was Pierre-Luc Dubois with his 1-0-1 night. 

The Second Star of the Game was Declan Chisholm with his 1-0-1 night, and this goal would be the game-winner for the Capitals. 

The First Star of the Game was the brick wall himself, Logan Thompson. He was near perfect with a 29 save night on 30 Blue Jackets shots. His save percentage was .967.  

The Blue Jackets go home with a 2025 preseason record of 2-5-0. The record doesn't really matter; what matters is what the players and coaches learned over the last two weeks, and I think they learned a lot. The Blue Jackets will now take all that information and incorporate it into their final practices before the 25th Columbus Blue Jackets season opener, on the road, at the Nashville Predators on Thursday. The game will start at 8:00 p.m. and I'll have the first recap of the 2025-26 season for you here when it concludes! 

Go CBJ!    





       

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