Washington Capitals Daily Report (10-03-15)

The Washington Capitals returned to training camp activities this morning (Saturday) after last nights 2-1 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins. The Capitals are 4-0-2 this preseason, with one game remaining. Today was the last official day of training camp.

(Photo: @bamitsbrittney93)

The team continued camp workouts as well as began preparations for their final pre-season game tomorrow (Sunday) night against the New York Islanders. Puck-drop is 5:00 PM at Verizon Center. This game will also be carried by CSN, or a better way to look at, from this point forward, all Capitals games will be televised until next pre-season.

Bruins @ Capitals Recap
Braden Holtby, in need of a good outing, did just that last night. Wednesday night against Carolina was yet another less than spectacular outing for Holtby, yielding 3 goals in 15 shots, in two periods of play. To Holtby’s defense, one goal was the result of a 5-3 penalty. Going into last nights tilt with the Bruins, Holtby had 44 saves against 50 shots this preseason, for a 0.880 Save Percentage. Last night he stopped all 23 shots he faced, including both shots he faced in the shootout. For a NoVa Caps complete game break-down, please visit here:

Morning Skate
As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Everyone present at Caps practice except Matt Niskanen. Trotz said yesterday his wife was in labor”. UPDATE: Congratulations to #Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen on the birth of his baby boy! Both Mom and child are doing great.

From Chuck Gormley, Lots of 2-on-2 battle drills going on today. Tempo definitely ramped up.

Nicklas Backstrom led final stretches for the team.

(Photo: @rashabitar)

Roster Management
The Capitals current roster sits at 28. The Capitals, as well as all other teams will need to reduce their rosters to 23 by 5:00 pm this Tuesday (October 6). As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, The Capitals will hold off on more cuts until after preseason finale: A listing of the current roster can be found here:

Injury Updates
Brooks Orpik won’t play tomorrow, but Trotz says they’ll reassess this week. Still shooting for him to be ready for the season opener. Trotz on Orpik: “I fully expect him to be ready for the game opener.”

News and Notes

NoVa Caps wrapped up its two-week poll regarding the implementation of the new 3-on-3 overtime rule, and how Caps fans are feeling about it. It should be noted that when the poll debuted the day after the first pre-season game, the early poll results showed 80-20 against.

As noted earlier in the week, Barry Trotz reiterated he anticipates Andre Burakovsky opening the season as a center. Trotz noted that he would start at second line center.

As per Chuck Gormley, “reading between lines, sounds to me like Chandler Stephenson will be assigned to Hershey. Trotz called him a prospect who would see NHL time”

And just because, Kuzy with the doozie from last night:

Latest Stories
Capitals preparing for Nicklas Backstrom to miss start of season (WaPo)
Private museum lets Mitch Korn relive every moment of his hockey career (WaPo)
Capitals cut five rookies from training camp, send them to Hershey (WaPo)
On same page as Barry Trotz, Capitals’ Jason Chimera ready to write next chapter (WaPo)
Johansson, Latta skate, but won’t play Monday because of injuries (WaPo)
Andi Lambert, wife of Capitals assistant Lane Lambert, dies at 45 (WaPo)
Andre Burakovsky still adjusting to being back at center (WaPo)
Capitals trying to be more defensive in three-on-three OT (WaPo)
Hobbs back with Pats after strong NHL camp (Global News)
Can Alex Ovechkin finally ignite T.J. Oshie’s offense with Capitals? (Yahoo)
Forward Derek Roy is making himself at home on a team he hopes to join (WaPo)
Backup goaltender battle between Peters, Grubauer plays out in Boston (WaPo)
Back with the Capitals again, Chris Bourque still chasing ‘the ultimate goal’ (WaPo)
New Capital Justin Williams: ‘I’m not a savior by any means of the word’ (WaPo)
Capitals-Bruins pregame notes: Johansson sidelined with minor injury, cuts coming (WaPo)
What the Capitals learned from their first three-on-three OT experience (WaPo)