As Capitals practice wrapped up on Saturday, Nathan Walker, Shane Gersich, Jakub Vrana, Alex Chiasson and Travis Boyd took part in everybody’s favorite drill: the tire! The good old tradition of passing the puck through the tire to your teammate while you get up a shot has been a hit at various practices throughout the season.
Sometimes this drill has featured all the forwards but recently it’s been the scratches along with a few young forwards who partake in this drill. After a lot of the main players like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie headed off the ice to the locker room to talk to reporters about tomorrow’s Game 2, the select few that remained got an advanced lesson on getting air under their passes.
Before the drill began, Shane Gersich and Jakub Vrana played catch with the puck.
Jakub Vrana and Shane Gersich playing catch with the puck #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/KTjGSruaE9
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) April 28, 2018
The drill got underway with Gersich finding Boyd for the quick snap.
THE TIRE IS BACK!! #ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/FWmLCqIfNZ
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) April 28, 2018
Gersich has come a long way from two weeks ago, where it took him multiple tries to get the puck through the tire. This video below is from practice back on April 14 which coincidentally was the day before Game 2 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
After Vrana missed the net, he picked up the puck and juggled it.
More Vrana fun #ALLCAPSpic.twitter.com/4I300b12Mw
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) April 28, 2018
A look at Gersich putting up shots on Philipp Grubuaer from our Instagram story.
Grubuaer took a break from all the shots he faced to meet one of his biggest fans. This adorable kid got to meet his hero and got his hat and a stick signed from Grubauer himself!
The Capitals will take on the Penguins in Game 2 on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.
By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo
