Caps Host B's in Exhibition Home Opener

September 18 vs. Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena
Time:7:00 p.m.
TV:NBCSW
Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7
On Sunday afternoon in Boston, the Capitals played the first of seven preseason games in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Bruins. On Tuesday night in the District, the Caps and B's will hook up in a rematch in the first of Washington's three home exhibition games.

The Caps took the ice in Boston on Sunday after just two days of training camp, and they will start a stretch of three games in four nights with Tuesday's tilt against the Bruins. By this Friday night, the Caps will have played four games in the first eight full days of camp, and they will have just three games spread out over the final 11 days of camp.

Washington brought a youth-laden roster to Boston, but the group played well after a sluggish start, which was not at all unexpected. The Caps took to the ice against the Bruins after just two days of practice, drills and work at training camp, and group Washington sent north had an early Sunday morning flight for the 1 p.m. matinee match.
The two goaltenders - Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek - were both strong in Sunday's opener, and both will have the night off on Tuesday. Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov are slated to dress for Washington in the rematch against the Bruins.
"Braden will start [Tuesday] and Samsonov will be the backup," said Caps coach Todd Reirden after Monday's three on-ice practice sessions.
For Samsonov, it will be his first time pulling on the Caps sweater for a preseason game. The Caps' first-round choice (22nd overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft, Samsonov has been playing in the KHL in his native Russia for the last three seasons, and the 21-year-old signed his first NHL contract earlier this year.

In their 44-year history in the NHL, the Caps have taken only one goaltender higher in a draft than Samsonov, and that was back in 1989 when they used their first-round pick - the 19th overall choice in the draft - to take Olaf Kolzig. Kolzig, of course, is Washington's all-time leader with 301 career wins, and 2008 fourth-rounder Holtby is second with 225.
The Caps had only six veterans in Sunday's exhibition opener, including five who played in Washington's Stanley Cup-winning Game 5 against the Golden Knights in Vegas. While the Caps will again be well represented by youth on Tuesday, they will also have more of a veteran presence, as one would expect for a home preseason game.
"They'll definitely be involved here," says Reirden of the vets. "You can expect to see Nick [Backstrom on Tuesday], and [T.J.] Oshie. He'll be playing with [Axel] Jonsson-Fjallby, who is a guy that I've liked at rookie camp, so that will be our top line [Tuesday] so you can expect to see those guys involved as well."

Blueline duo Matt Niskanen and Dmitry Orlov are slated to see their first preseason action on Tuesday as well. The youthful side of the ledger will still be well represented, as local fans will get their first look at Alexander Alexeyev, the 18-year-old defenseman Washington chose with its first-round pick (31st overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Travis Boyd and Nic Dowd will both be in Tuesday night's lineup as well, as both vie for the fourth-line center spot left vacant by Jay Beagle's departure via free agency. Another candidate for that role is Jayson Megna, who suited up on Sunday in Boston and played well. Megna will be in the lineup again on Tuesday, but he will skate on the right side in the rematch against the Bruins.
The Bruins are 2-0 thus far in the preseason, winning a pair of shootout decisions. Boston has a squad of a couple dozen players over in China taking part in a pair of exhibition games against the Calgary Flames, and that group downed Calgary 4-3 in a skills decision on Saturday. The Bruins and Flames will play again in China on Wednesday before heading back to North America.