Caps Take on Wings at Cap One
Detroit visits District in Caps' penultimate preseason tune-up
After playing three road exhibitions in a span of four nights to finish out last week, the Capitals took Sunday off and returned to the rigors of training camp practice on Monday and Tuesday, with a newly trimmed camp roster in the wake of a small round of weekend cuts. On Wednesday night the Caps will take on the Detroit Red Wings in Washington's penultimate preseason game. The two teams met in Detroit last week when the Caps skated off with a 2-0 victory.
Not including a quartet of injured players who will not be ready to play when the season opens a week from today, the Caps' training camp roster is down to 28 players (18 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders). At least five more players will need to be trimmed from the roster, and most of the players remaining on the roster would need to clear waivers to be loaned to AHL Hershey. Among the forwards still in camp and vying for a roster berth, only three - Kody Clark, Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas - are waiver-exempt.
The only player to play in each of Washington's first four preseason games, Protas has made the biggest splash at camp this fall. He is bigger, faster and stronger than he was at the end of last season, and he credits an improved stride for his uptick in speed.
The 6-foot-6, 235-pound native of Belarus has played all three forward positions, acquitting himself well in each game. The 21-year-old got his feet wet in the NHL last season, putting up three goals and nine points in 33 games with the Caps. Drafted in the third round (91st overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, Protas is about to start his third NHL season.
Protas will suit up for a fifth straight exhibition match on Wednesday against the Wings. Among other forwards still jockeying for lineup and roster spots, McMichael, Joe Snively, Henrik Borgstrom and defenseman Lucas Johansen are also slated to skate in tonight's game against Detroit.
In addition to those younger players, veteran forwards Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, Lars Eller and Conor Sheary are slated to play on Wednesday as are newcomers Connor Brown and Dylan Strome. Washington is also expected to dress its entire top four on the blueline for the first time in the preseason, so it should also have a fairly representative power play unit for Wednesday's tune-up tilt.
"It will be good to get into some games with the group and to see what we're doing," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of his team's power play. "But I think that could probably be said for everything that we've been working on. You get in and you work on defense and forechecks, and neutral zones and face-off plays. We tried to cover everything in training camp here, and now you put it to a test and see where you're at."
After several successful seasons under the tutelage of former Caps assistant coach Scott Arniel, Washington's penalty killing outfit is now the responsibility of Scott Allen, who was promoted from Hershey after Arniel signed on as an assistant with the Winnipeg Jets over the summer. In his last two seasons as an NHL assistant with Arizona in 2017-18 and '18-19, Allen's Coyote penalty killers were successful on 82.5 percent of their kills, third best in the League over that span.
In its most recent game - a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday - Washington's penalty killers were noticeably more aggressive in taking away time and space, and to good effect. Three different Washington skaters forced turnovers on the team's first kill of the night in that game.
"It's quicker, no question," said Laviolette after that contest. "We're trying to jump and move and see if we can force the issue a little bit. I thought it was really good. I think the guys are learning it, because it's been broken groups.
"Hopefully it keeps building, but I thought the pressure was pretty good tonight."
While Washington has a six-game preseason slate this fall and will conclude its exhibition season on Saturday night when it hosts Columbus, the Red Wings are taking a different approach. With a new coaching staff and a slew of young players and several offseason additions, the Wings are playing eight preseason games and will have two more exhibition tilts remaining after Wednesday's meeting with the Caps. The Wings will conclude their preseason schedule with a set of back-to-back, home-and-home games against Toronto, starting on Friday night in Detroit.
The Wings have won two of their first five preseason games, splitting two games with both Chicago and Pittsburgh and taking the aforementioned shutout loss to the Caps on home ice last Friday.
