The Washington Capitals played their final road game of the 2025 preseason against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. The Caps, still playing with a very mixed roster, matched up with what will likely be Columbus’s Opening Night lineup.
Connor McMichael David Gucciardi got on the board first, lifting a wrister through traffic from the blueline. Andrew Cristall doubled the team’s lead with another power-play tally, sifting a puck through Jet Greaves. Boone Jenner banked a power-play goal off Thompson to get Columbus back in the game.
Ilya Protas put the Capitals back up two, but Zach Werenski notched a quick response goal just 46 seconds later. Tom Wilson restored the two-goal lead again, poking home a loose puck in front of the Blue Jackets net. Mathieu Olivier cut the lead to one again with a third-period strike.
Observations
- David Gucciardi, a Capitals seventh-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, has really shot up the team’s prospect rankings over the past year. Although they’re crediting his goal to Connor McMichael, I’m personally keeping it with him because I didn’t see McMichael touch the puck. The 22-year-old blueliner has good size and moves his feet really well. I don’t think many would have predicted his recent rise, and he looks slated, at this point, to one day play NHL games. Great example for late draft picks.
- Who else would make their preseason debut and immediately record a Gordie Howe hat trick other than Tom Wilson? Willy looked great in his first outing this fall, recording “the primary assist on Gucciardi’s goal,” poking home his own marker in the second frame, and then standing up for Ivan Miroshnichenko with Erik Gudbranson — a very tough customer in his own right. Future captain material on display before the games even count.
- Sheldon Rempal and Henrik Rybinski stood out to me in good ways in this one. Rempal had some real juice to his game and got to good areas of the ice despite not being the biggest player in the world. Would have liked to see him bury one of his chances. Rybinski didn’t play a ton, but was just super solid whenever he did jump over the boards. He got a recall last year but never played a game. I would not be surprised if another team takes a chance on him with a claim off waivers.
- Another good play on the forecheck by Ivan Miroshnichenko rewarded him with the primary assist on Wilson’s goal. Miro has done a really good job at the little things in the offensive zone that I would imagine Spencer Carbery loves seeing. Good to see him get back up after the Gudbranson hit. He’s making things happen.
- Ilya Protas scored his first pro goal on a 2-on-1 rush where his attempted pass to Bogdan Trineyev clicked off a defender’s stick and past Greaves. I think Little Pro is going to need a full year of AHL hockey, but should be ready as soon as next year for a full-time NHL run. His skating just needs to get a tick stronger, and I think that will happen with another year of hard work on a young Hershey Bears team.
- Another goal for Andrew Cristall, which can’t be overlooked. I don’t think he’s been at his best at five-on-five in the preseason, but the kid just has an unteachable, innate ability to rack up points. He’s probably Hershey-bound for the year, which I don’t think is a bad thing.
- Logan Thompson made some ridiculous stops in the first half of this game. I didn’t love seeing that Werenski goal go in, but he had a good game overall. I’m sure Thompson will have some extra fire in net to start the year as he looks to make the Team Canada execs look dumb.
- The last half of the telecast’s third period was played through constant beeping and flashes of green, as if the entirety of Nationwide Arena was trying to enter the Matrix.
The Capitals will take Wednesday off and then return to MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Thursday for a morning skate ahead of a home preseason game against the Boston Bruins. The Caps have two remaining preseason games, both at Capital One Arena, before opening their regular season at home against the Bruins on October 8.
