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Highlights from the Capitals’ 2-1 preseason loss to the Blue Jackets

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The Washington Capitals wrapped up the road portion of their preseason schedule with a 2-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Caps took an early 1-0 lead but couldn’t come up with another in the final two periods.

Aliaksei Protas was the only goal scorer for the team clad in white.

Here are the highlights and some takeaways from the game.

Goals

Aliaksei Protas opened the scoring with a net front rebound putback past Elvis Merzlikins.

Carson Meyer tied things up for Columbus not too long after, pouncing on a loose puck in front of Charlie Lindgren.

Yegor Chinakhov beat Lindgren up high midway through the third period to give Columbus their first lead of the night.

Takeaways

  • Aliaksei Protas had yet another good game as he became the only Caps player to feature in every preseason fixture on the Caps schedule so far. The big Belorussian skated as the second line center and opened the night’s scoring with a rebound goal from an Anthony Mantha shot. Protas has played all three forward positions this preseason and has earned effusive praise from head coach Peter Laviolette for his efforts.
  • That Protas goal came on a six-on-five delayed penalty advantage and the Caps heavily featured Mantha in the right offensive zone dot to create it. That’s something they’ve done twice previously this preseason on regular power plays leading to goals. Something to keep an eye on or just natural due to an absent Alex Ovechkin? We shall see.
  • This is a very Protas-centric exhibition slate so we’ll make this a Protas-centric post as well. I’d love to see the Caps try him out with Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov on the top line again. He got some short looks there last season but his skating has taken a gigantic leap since then.

  • Charlie Lindgren was solid in net again. Not the greatest goal in the world to give up to Chinakhov, but “solid” is about all the Capitals need from their backup this season which is a very refreshing change of pace. He made 14 stops on 15 shots in the two periods of action he saw.
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk played in all situations and was superb. In my opinion, he’s one of the more underrated defensemen in the league and would excel if given a slightly larger role with the Caps. Through two periods with him on the ice at five-on-five the Caps had six scoring chances and four high danger chances to Columbus’ zero in both categories.
  • Not enough from Connor McMichael so far in this preseason. It feels like Protas has definitely jumped over him.

The Capitals will now head home for their final two preseason games against these same Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings.

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