Monday did not start well for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Leading scorer Kirill Marchenko left their morning skate early with an unspecified injury and was scratched from the lineup for Monday night’s game at Washington.

The outlook didn’t improve after the puck dropped. During the game with the Capitals, both Mathieu Olivier and Zach Werenski, key players on both ends of the ice for Columbus, left with upper body injuries.

Combined with what became a depleted roster, the Blue Jackets did not match Washington’s energy and the Capitals took a 5-0 lead at the beginning of the third period. What really hurt Jackets was a three and a half minute span at the end of the second period.

Up 1-0 in the second, the Capitals’ Tom Wilson scored at the 16:29 mark. After a penalty charged to Brendan Gaunce, Jakob Chychrun posted a power play goal with 15 seconds left in the frame. Then off a face-off in front of Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, John Carlson scored 12 seconds later to make it 4-0.

“Our true game wasn’t there here tonight,” said Columbus head coach Dean Evason after the game. “And then you get banged up a little bit, then obviously things snowball a little bit from there.”

The Blue Jackets got on the board in the third period when defenseman Denton Mateychuk settled a rebound in the right circle and slapped it through a crowd in the crease and past Washington goalie Logan Thompson.

Columbus ended its four-game road trip with a record of 1-2-1. The Jackets return home for two games on either side of Thanksgiving as they host Toronto Wednesday and Pittsburgh Friday. Both games get underway at 7:00 p.m.