Photo: @Capitals
The Capitals returned to MedStar Capitals Iceplex for day 2 of their 2020 Playoffs training camp. As was the case on Monday, Tuesday’s camp consisted of two separate training sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The Capitals depart for Toronto on July 26 and have their first game set for August 3.
PRACTICE
Players that missed day 2 of training camp include Alex Alexeyev, Shane Gersich and Ilya Samsonov. Alexeyev and Samsonov also missed day 1 of camp. Michael Kempny, who missed the first day of camp on Monday returned to practice today.
Ilya Samsonov, Alex Alexeyev and Shane Gersich will not be practicing today, per the team.
Samsonov and Alexeyev did not practice yesterday. Gersich did practice yesterday.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) July 14, 2020
Lines – Morning Group
The lines from this mornings group:
Line combos and D pairs in Capitals first practice group today:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Maillet-Backstrom-Hathaway
Hagelin-Eller-PinhoSiegenthaler-Carlson
Dillon-OrlovGersich was with first group yesterday, but apparently might skate with second group today.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) July 14, 2020
Lines – Afternoon Group
The lines for this afternoons group:
Line combinations in Capitals second practice group today:
Vrana-Boyd-Oshie
Panik-Dowd-Kovalchuk
Malenstyn-McMichael-Sprong
Pilon rotating inFehervary-Gudas
Kempny/Lewington-JensenVanecek
Leonhardt— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) July 14, 2020
Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said on Monday that the team will begin to get serious about the roster and line combinations beginning next week. The team departs for their Toronto bubble on July 26th.
The Capitals will play one exhibition game against the Carolina Hurricanes before beginning their round robin tournament against the Tampa Bay Lightning on August 3rd.
Capitals will play Carolina for the team’s exhibition game in Toronto, per coach Todd Reirden.
Fun stuff.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) July 14, 2020
The date for the game was not announced. Dates for exhibition games are slated for July 28 through July 30.
Office work:
Alex Ovechkin from his office, yup, still got it. pic.twitter.com/rn0FctDtNS
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) July 14, 2020
Preparing for Bubble Life:
As previously stated, the Capitals will leave for Toronto and enter the bubble on July 26th.
NHL is sending three groups of events staff to Edmonton and Toronto starting today. Hotel rooms, team rooms, workout facilities, testing for 900 at each site. Feeding 900 at each site. The list of facility needs is extensive. Enormous undertaking kicking into high gear.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 14, 2020
Leaving the bubble:
Both Carl Hagelin and Lars Eller will be leaving the Capitals bubble in Toronto for the birth of their children. Eller and his wife are expecting the birth of their child on or around August 8th. Hagelin’s child is due in September.
#ALLCAPS Lars Eller says when time comes, he’ll leave Toronto hub for birth of his child (due Aug8)
NHL has protocols in place for this: Player quarantines once he returns to hub city & must produce four consecutive days of negative COVID test results before rejoining teammates
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) July 14, 2020
Eller admitted to ESPN he considered opting out of the entire tournament, but made sure he could be present for the birth and also for his team and their playoff journey.
“A lot of thoughts going into the decision. Weighing the pros and cons. We’re going to have a new addition to our family in a couple of weeks. But at the same time, I want to be with my team and win another Cup. We’re working on making the necessary arrangements so I can be there for the birth and then come back to the bubble after that,” he said in a conference call on Tuesday.
According to the NHL, individuals who leave the bubble for extenuating circumstances “will be required to return at least four consecutive negative PCR test results over a four-day period, and will be required to quarantine in their individual hotel room until such testing requirements have been fulfilled.”
Rinkside Update
Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen sat with Mike Vogel for today’s edition of Rinkside Update.
“It’s unfortunate because I was starting to hit a pretty good stride in my game, feeling pretty good about it, and we were starting to approach the playoffs. Those are all good signs…”
Nick Jensen joins Rinkside Update pic.twitter.com/iiCxABy0aq
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) July 14, 2020
SHAVINGS:
- With 25 wins this season, Braden Holtby climbed to 45th on the NHL’s all-time wins list by a goaltender.
- This season, Holtby passed notable goaltenders Ken Dryden, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Felix Potvin, Bernie Parent and Marty Turco en route to 45th. Holtby is the only goaltender to rank in the NHL’s top-50 with fewer than 500 games played (468).
- With 13 games remaining on the schedule prior to the season suspension, Holtby was on pace to record his sixth consecutive 30 win season, which would have made him one of 10 goaltenders in NHL history to accomplish the feat.
- Holtby enters the playoffs ranking second in NHL history among goaltenders with at least 50 career playoff games in save percentage (.928) and tied for seventh in goals against average (2.09).
- CapFriendly posted a ranking of average age for projected teams rosters for the 24 teams in the playoffs. The Capitals were listed as the oldest team in the playoffs.
Rank of the 24 return to play teams by average age (youngest to oldest):
CBJ
NYR
CHI
WPG
TOR
MTL
COL
CGY
CAR
VAN
EDM
FLA
PHI
TBL
ARZ
STL
VGK
BOS
PIT
MIN
NYI
NSH
DAL
WSH— CapFriendly Depth Charts (@CF_DepthCharts) July 14, 2020
The ranking could change considerably before the start of playoffs, as teams could potentially add younger prospects to their final playoff roster.
By Jon Sorensen
