NHL preseason review, The Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are one of NHL’s elite teams and in the preseason they gave fans a glimpse of what makes them that. Washington comfortably won five of six preseason exhibition matches. The current Capitals roster for the most part is virtually the
same as last year and that is because last year the Capitals had an excellent line up.
For the past three seasons the Capitals have been finishing first in the Southeast division and it’s as certain as the sun would rise tomorrow that the Capitals are going to make the playoffs again this year. The Capitals had 121 points by the end of the
regular season last year, 8 points more than the runner ups, the San Jose Sharks and 9 more than third place Chicago Blackhawks. There was nothing wrong with the Capitals roster and hence general manager George McPhee just didn’t have any reason to tweak it
in the off season.
Leading the Capitals is Captain Alexander Ovechkin, the most valuable player in 2008 and 2009. He was named to the NHL All-Star team in his first 5 seasons with the NHL. Alex, with 3 consecutive 100 points seasons and two consecutive Maurice Richard Trophies,
is a nightmare for any team’s defensemen.
The Capitals were the highest goal scoring team in the NHL last season and the loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs says nothing about the team. Its hockey, you win some you lose some. The only thing we know for a fact is that the Capitals looked
like the one of the strongest teams last year.
This year again, the Capitals are set to leave their mark on the game. They opened the preseason against the Columbus Blue Jackets and beat them 6 goals against two. The Capitals tried out the former Colorado Avalanche centre Matt Hendricks. Playing for
Washington, the struggling forward Matt scored a hat trick. Washington’s goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped 20 shots of 20 on goal, while Brandon Holtby allowed two of the 19 shots he faced to go through.
The Caps weren’t happy with having conceded two goals so next time out they beefed up their defence. The Nashville Predators, Washington’s next victims, were allowed just 25 shots on goal compared to the 39 the Blue Jackets were able to make previously.
That also meant the Caps would take fewer shots on goal. In fact they took 23 shots on goal, 2 less than the losing Nashville, but were successful twice while the Predators could score only one goal in the game.
For the third of six preseason games, the Washington Capitals went up against the Boston Bruins. Washington won the game 3 – 2 as their prospects took centre stage again. Mathieu Perreault and Cody Eakin each scored a goal and Marcus Johansson went away
with an assist in a second period power play goal. They still have some way to go before they can make the Caps roster in the regular season. The Captain Ovechkin contributed with two assists of his own. The Caps were able to kill off all 5 penalties in the
game.
After beating Boston the Caps had their first rematch with Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus came out of the match in better shape than their first time against the Caps but ultimately still lost with 3 goals against 5. Two of those goals came during power
plays and one while they were short handed. Ovechkin had two assists, one of them with Niklas Backstrom shooting the puck into the net. In all Washington faced 26 shots on goal while the Blue Jackets had to face 38 shots.
The Cap winning streak came to an end only in their final preseason game against the Predators, who they had beaten 2 – 1 earlier. This time out Washington was not able to score any goals. As long as Michal Neuvirth was at the net in the first period and
10 minutes of the second, neither team was able to score. However, as soon as Neuvirth was relieved by Sabourin, the goals started coming. The Capitals lost 3 – 0.
The end might not have been perfect but Washington’s dominance during the preseason is unmistakable. The Capitals would open the regular season against Atlanta, followed by New Jersey.
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