Caps forward Nic Dowd opened the scoring at 6:49 of the first as he skated through the slot of the Blue Jackets’ defensive zone and went bardown on Tarasov. The Blue Jackets answered back swiftly to make it a 1-1 game as Mateychuk tied things up with a snipe of his own from the left circle just 23 seconds after the Capitals goal.

Center Nic Dowd scored the opener early in the first period. The Capitals surrendered a goal to Columbus defenseman Denton Mateychuk just 23 seconds later, but after winger Tom Wilson scored 48 seconds into the second period to put Washington back in the lead, the visitors remained in control.

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason watches his team play against the St. Louis Blues during their preseason game on Sept. 25.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have completed half of their 2024 preseason. Feels like Training Camp just started, doesn’t it? What started as 55 players is now down to 36 as of Sunday morning.

The Capitals, playing their fourth preseason game in six days, suffer a handful of defensive breakdowns and lose to the Blue Jackets, 8-4.