Maybe a delayed start is a good luck charm?
Or maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets are turning a corner.
In a game that saw its start pushed back by more than an hour as a result of travel woes associated with the tropical system known as Helene, the Blue Jackets scored eight times en route to an 8-4 win over the Washington Capitals in the D.C. on Friday night.
Here are four takeaways from the Blue Jackets second straight preseason win:
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| Blue Jackets 8, Capitals 4 |
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Just like after Columbus' 3-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, it needs to be said again: preseason games don't count, but they do matter. This was the second straight game where the Blue Jackets seemed to show huge strides in new head coach Dean Evason's style. The Capitals had Alex Ovechkin on the ice (-3 plus/minus in 14:37 of ice time), they had their two best defenders in John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun (a combined -2 with each seeing more than 20 minutes of ice time), they had their starting goalie play the entire 60 minutes and give up six goals (the Blue Jackets had a pair of empty-netters) on 25 shots. It's not two points in the regular season standings, but don't kid yourself: the result matters.
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Adam Fantilli had a hat trick and is looking smooth, silky, comfortable, fluid, and whatever other adjective you want to use as a top-six center for the Blue Jackets. Three goals on four shots, a plus/minus of +4 as the top-line center against a veteran Capitals group, and looking every bit the role of a young leader for Columbus.
HAVE A NIGHT MO!
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 28, 2024
** no hats were harmed in the making of this night@performancecbus | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/szp3h7wars -
Mathieu Olivier, who scored his second and third goals of the preseason, is the kind of player that Evason liked to utilize during his time as head coach of the Minnesota Wild. Now that he's showing a bit of a scoring touch, it may not be a lock that Olivier is a fourth-line guy anymore. He's showing third line potential and an expanded role this season looks more than possible.
- In Friday's look-ahead of the game, it was noted that the "game will also feature several forwards with a chance to make the final group, with Gavin Brindley, Dylan Gambrell, and Trey Fix-Wolansky, James Malatesta, and Mikael Pyyhtia all in the lineup." All but Dylan Gambrell made the boxscore. Gavin Brindley, who was playing on Fantilli's line, had a pair of assists. Mikael Pyyhtia had a power play goal in the second period and, like Brindley, had a multi-point night. He had an assist in the second period, as well. Trey Fix-Wolansky assisted on the power play tally from Pyyhtia, and James Malatesta had a first-period goal. None of these players are likely to be on the ice in game one of the regular season but are putting themselves in position to be the that first next-man-up when the inevitable injuries pop up.
