Washington Capitals Daily Report (10-01-15)

The Washington Capitals had the day off today (Thursday), following their 4-3 shootout loss to the Hurricanes in Raleigh Wednesday night. The team will return to Kettler on Friday as they prepare for the Boston Bruins Friday night at Verizon Center. The game will be televised on CSN (and the NHL Network outside of the DC area). The Capitals will conclude their pre-season schedule on Sunday when they take on the New York Islanders at Verizon Center.

(photo: @jennaroalandphotography)

Capitals at Hurricanes
After relinquishing a 3-1 lead, the Capitals successfully endured another 3-on-3 overtime on Wednesday night, only to ultimately fall to the ‘Canes in the ensuing shootout. You can read a full recap right here. The game was the fourth pre-season road game in a row for the Capitals, and marked the team’s final road game of the pre-season. Coach Trotz reverted back to an earlier 3-on-3 his overtime strategy by starting off with two forwards and one defenseman – Kuznetsov, Ovechkin and Niskanan. The Hurricanes countered with the same configuration, going with Skinner, Versteeg, Faulk. The 3-on-3 overtime period went scoreless once again, sending the game into a shootout.

Roster Management
No new roster moves were made today (Thursday). The Capitals will need to be down to 23 players by Tuesday, October 6th.

Injury Updates
Nicklas Backstrom returned to practice on Wednesday, but still has yet to be cleared for contact. There is still no public time-table for Backstrom. Backstrom had been skating with the team every day during informal skates prior to training camp. As per Isabelle Khurshadyan, Coach Trotz stated “[Backstrom] won’t start the season. … I wouldn’t think that’d he’d play through those first four games.” Trotz said team is preparing for a “worst-case scenario” of Backstrom returning on Nov. 1, though it could be sooner

Chris Brown (hand) and Brooks Orpik (wrist) conducted on-ice work outs prior to schedule team skates. Later on Wednesday it was reported that Brown may be out several weeks. Trotz stated Orpik could be back for the last pre-season game.

News and Notes
The Capitals will wear their new “Third Jersey’s” for 15 Home Dates this season. Find out which games here:

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