On Saturday, the Caps are back in preseason action when they take on the New York Islanders in Bridgeport. Washington (0-1-1) is still seeking its first victory of the exhibition season.
Team Canada finished off Team Europe to claim the World Cup of Hockey on Thursday night in Toronto. Trotz - who served as an assistant coach for Team Canada - and Caps goaltender Braden Holtby returned to Washington training camp today, and fellow netminder Philipp Grubauer is expected to follow suit tomorrow. With that, the Caps are made whole once again, ready to get on with the business of preparing for the season ahead.
"It was cool," says Holtby of the World Cup experience. "I hadn't done really anything like that before, so it was pretty neat to see that kind of talent on the ice and to practice with it a bit. At the same time, I'm glad to be back."
Holtby is expected to play some tonight in Bridgeport, and Trotz will be behind the bench again.
Youngsters Jakub Vrana and Madison Bowey will both be playing in their third straight preseason game for the Capitals tonight. They - and goaltender Vitek Vanecek - are the only three players to have dressed for all three games to date.
Bowey played alongside Brooks Orpik in Monday's preseason opener, a 2-1 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center. He skated with Karl Alzner the next night when the Caps absorbed a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Canadiens in Montreal. Tonight, Bowey will be paired with Christian Djoos, his third different partner in as many games.
"I think it's good," says Bowey. "For me, it gives me a chance to get some familiarity with every player. I know if I'm playing with Hershey, I could be playing with Christian so I think that will be good, to get used to playing with him. Playing with Brooks and Karl was very easy. They're both tremendous defensemen and they've helped me out a lot. I think I learned a lot from them in those two games.
The Islanders are sporting a skeletal lineup for tonight's game, with very few NHL players and seasoned pros. Bridgeport is home to New York's AHL affiliate - the Sound Tigers - and the start of Sound Tigers training camp is only a day or two away. So the hunch here is that the Isles won't be bringing nearly as many players with them back to Brooklyn after the game as they are bringing to Connecticut to play the game.
Here's the lineup we expect the Capitals to ice at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport tonight against the Islanders:
Forwards
90-Johansson, 20-Eller, 14-Williams
13-Vrana, 72-Boyd, 16-Galiev
28-Carey, 18-Stephenson, 10-Connolly
87-O'Brien, 42-Malone, 24-Barber
Defensemen
44-Orpik, 78-Lewington
55-Ness, 88-Schmidt
29-Djoos, 44-Bowey
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
41-Vanecek
