One More – The Caps are headed to Philadelphia this afternoon where they will close out their four-game preseason schedule with a rematch against the Flyers. The two teams met early in the week in Hershey, and the Caps won that one, 5-2.
In today’s rematch, the Caps are bringing a heavily youthful lineup to face the Flyers. Only three of Washington’s 18 skaters have regular season NHL experience: forwards Ethen Frank (86 games) and Ivan Miroshnichenko (52), and defenseman Louis Belpedio (16). Both Washington goaltenders (Charlie Lindgren, 170 and Cal Petersen 106) have more NHL games than any Caps skater.
On the opposite bench, the Flyers are expected to treat Saturday’s game like a dress rehearsal for the regular season. Given the disparity in NHL experience on the two sides, today’s game represents a real opportunity to shine on the Washington side. Any player in the red, white and blue who stands out in a good way in tonight’s game is likely to carry a lot of meaning and favor among the watchful eyes of the Caps hockey operations group.
While the Caps are taking on the Flyers in Philly tonight, the AHL Hershey Bears will be up the road in Allentown for a preseason contest with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Deadlines And Commitments – Before they departed for the City of Brotherly Love on Saturday, the Caps announced the recall of four players from AHL Hershey: forwards Tyler Kopff, Petr Sikora and Alex Suzdalev and defenseman Jon McDonald. All four are expected to suit up tonight against the Flyers, and all four are likely to be returned to Hershey after the game.
Additionally, the Caps have placed veteran defenseman Justin Holl on waivers for the purpose of loaning him to Hershey. The NHL’s deadline to submit opening night rosters to the League office is 5 p.m. on Monday. In order to loan players to Hershey ahead of that deadline, those players must clear waivers by 2 p.m. on Monday, meaning they’ll need to be placed on waivers by 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Each of the four players the Caps placed on waivers on Friday – goaltender Mitchell Gibson, defenseman Jacob MacDonald and forwards Josh Dunne and Bogdan Trineyev – cleared waivers on Saturday and they are expected to report to Hershey. The Caps will learn whether Holl cleared waivers or not at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Aside from captain Alex Ovechkin, who has been dealing with a lower body ailment during camp and has not dressed for any of Washington’s preseason tune-ups, the Caps dressed their ostensible opening night lineup for Friday’s home game against the Bruins, and as of now, Ovechkin is expected to be ready for the season opener.
Barring any other injury issues, the Caps know the identity of the dozen forwards and half dozen defensemen they want to see on the ice when they open the regular season in Carolina on Friday. It’s the three roster spots beyond the lineup that still need to be sorted out.
Along with Frank and Miroshnichenko, veteran ex-Ranger Jonny Brodzinski is battling for the extra forward slot(s), depending on whether the Caps opt to carry one or two extras up front. Frank and Miroshnichenko are each getting a third preseason viewing tonight while the 33-year-old Brodzinski – who scored three goals in his two exhibition games – is capped at a maximum of two games because of his veteran status.
Each of the three forwards must clear waivers to be loaned to Hershey.
Holl being placed on waivers today indicates that Dylan McIlrath has landed the extra defenseman roster slot. After carrying eight defensemen all season for the last couple of campaigns, Washington appears set to start with seven on its back end at the outset of the 2016-27 season. On paper, the defense would appear to be settled for now, but the Caps still most sort out the goaltending and forward portions of their roster between now and Monday’s deadline.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the net for the Caps tonight in Philadelphia, making his second appearance of the preseason. Lindgren started Monday night’s game against the Flyers in Hershey, stopping 12 of 14 shots before yielding to Clay Stevenson midway through the second period. One of the goals Lindgren gave up came on a Philly power play.
Injuries and other circumstances limited Lindgren to just three appearances after the February Olympic pause last season, and he spent the long summer working on his game.
“I think just fine-tuning all parts of my game,” said the veteran netminder earlier this week. “I worked really hard, worked smart. I worked on a lot of post stuff, so coming in and out of the posts. Rush plays, I kind of touched on everything. I feel really good about where I’m at.”
In regular season play against the Flyers over the course of his 10 NHL seasons, Lindgren is 6-0-2 with a shutout, a 1.59 GAA and a .939 save pct. in eight appearances, all of them starts.
For the Flyers, Aleksei Kolosov will start and go the distance for Philadelphia tonight, according to Philly coach Rick Tocchet, who addressed local media following an optional morning skate today. Tocchet also revealed that the Flyers are working on determining the identity of their backup goalie for tonight. Dan Vladar left a game because of injury earlier in the week, and Joseph Woll has hit his two-game veteran limit and cannot dress tonight.
Kolosov owns a 5-11-1 lifetime mark in 21 NHL appearances, with a 3.64 GAA and an .863 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here is the Washington roster for tonight and here also is a list of likely Philly players for tonight:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
14-Lakovic
18-Parascak
28-Cristall
23-Niederbach
53-Frank
58-Mateiko
63-Miroshnichenko
65-Schaefer
66-Sikora
71-Kopff
81-Smallman
91-Suzdalev
Defensemen
39-McDonald
41-Chesley
45-Muggli
50-Belpedio
54-Allen
93-Gucciardi
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
47-Petersen
PHILADELPHIA
Forwards
10-Wilson
11-Konecny
14-Couturier
17-Grebenkin
20-Bump
22-Dvorak
27-Cates
46-Zegras
52-Acciari
71-Foerster
74-Tippett
94-Martone
Defensemen
3-Grans
5-Jiricek
6-Sanheim
8-York
9-Drysdale
24-Seeler
55-Ristolainen
Goaltenders
35-Kolosov
-TBD
