The Washington Capitals opened their 2021 pre-season schedule against the Boston Bruins Sunday evening at Capitals One Arena. As is the case with most early pre-season games, both sides deployed a number of prospects in the game.

12 players selected by Washington in the NHL draft were in the lineup for the Capitals on Sunday. Hendrix Lapierre and Martin Has made their first appearances for the Capitals.

Starting Lineup

The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the first preseason game against the Boston Bruins:

#Caps‘ lines vs. BOS:
73-Sheary, 20-Eller, 40-Pilon
10-Sprong, 24-McMichael, 43-Wilson
91-Snively, 29-Lapierre, 64-Pinho
47-Malenstyn, 67-Sutter, 49-Leason

42-Fehervary, 2-Schultz
9-Orlov, 61-Has
57-van Riemsdyk, 25-McIlrath

Vanecek vs. Swayman. #CapsBruins #ALLCAPS

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) September 26, 2021

Pheonix Copley got the start in goal for the Capitals. Vitek Vanecek took over to start the third period.

Player Reports

Connor McMichael
Pos: 2C
Toi: 15:55
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: 0

McMichael showed his quickness in front of the net and in the dirty areas on numerous occasions, being the first to react to loose pucks is what he does really well. McMichael took a bulk of the faceoffs for the Capitals prospects, going 8 for 15. He had an attempt in the shootout but was denied. McMichael saw 2:17 of power play time and 9 seconds of penalty kill time. He recorded one shot on goal. McMichael had no hits or blocked shots. Trending: Up

Hendrix Lapierre
Pos: 3C
Toi: 15:03
Goals: 0
Assists: 2
Plus/Minus: 0

Lapierre, who spent more time in hotel rooms than on the ice last season due to more than 60 days of quarantine time, had a very decent showing. Lapierre had the secondary assist on the Capitals first goal of the game by Joe Snively. He also had an excellent rush in the second period, collecting a loose puck in his own zone and flying up the left side to make a nice centering pass to Snively for a quality chance in the slot. Lapierre went 2 of 11 at the dot. He had 2:17 of power play time. Lapierre had one shot on goal. He had no blocked shots or hits in the game. Trending: Up

Garrett Pilon
Pos: 1RW
Toi: 16:19
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: +1

Pilon had a good game, playing strong in the goal crease and in the gritty areas. He showed strong play along the boards as well, keeping the forecheck alive on a number of occasions. Pilon scored the Capitals second goal of the game. He would collect a nice feed from Fehervary, quickly transition to his backhand and roof a backhander to tie the game 2-2.

ooooohhh that was a beauty @gpilon41 pic.twitter.com/AECgcL8P9r

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 26, 2021

Pilon was 1 for 2 in faceoffs. He had 2:17 of power play time. He had two shots on goal. Pilon had four hits in the game and no blocked shots. Trending: Up

Beck Malenstyn
Pos: 4LW
Toi: 11:53
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: 0

It was good to see Malenstyn return to the ice after sitting out all last season with an Achilles injury. This was his first organized game action in nearly a year and a half. Malenstyn played on the first penalty kill for the Capitals in the opener, something he has locked down during his time in Hershey. He had 2:36 of penalty kill time. He had no shots on goal. Malenstyn looked somewhat rusty but not bad considering his time away from the game and his first game back after injury. Malenstyn led all Capitals in hits with seven and tied for team lead in blocked shots with two. Trending: Up

Brett Leason
Pos: 4RW
Toi: 10:43
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: 0

Leason was fairly quiet until the early goings of the third period when he drew a penalty on a break-away. On the play he demonstrated his above average speed. Leason had 2:00 of penalty kill time. He had one shot on goal. He had no hits and two blocked shots, which was tied for team lead. Trending: Same

Brian Pinho
Pos: 3RW
Toi: 11:50
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: -1

Pinho took the first penalty of the game to protect against a break away, but there were no damages done to the scoreboard. Otherwise it was a fairly quiet game for Pinho. He was 2 of 5 in faceoffs. Pinho had 1:50 of penalty kill time. He had no shots on goal. He had one hit and no blocked shots. Trending: Down

Riley Sutter
Pos: 4C
Toi: 12:38
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: 0

A relatively quiet game for Sutter. He was 4 of 10 in faceoffs. He was 4th in shot production percentages, first in expected goals and tied for third in scoring chances for. Sutter had 2:33 of penalty kill time. Sutter had no shots on goal. He had no hits or blocked shots. Trending: Same

Joe Snively
Pos: 3LW
Toi: 11:22
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: -1

Snively recorded the game’s first goal. Snively collected a puck in front of the net and finished while falling to the ice. The goal came at 4:05 of the first frame. Defenseman Martin Has had the primary assist while first round draft pick Hendrix Lapierre had the secondary assist on the goal.

From Lil Caps goals to Big Caps goals! pic.twitter.com/JJu9HPyPoK

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 26, 2021

Snively also showed off his passing skills in the overtime, feeding Justin Schultz with a cross-ice pass for a high-quality scoring chance in the extra frame. A good game for Snively. He had 5 seconds of power play time. Snively had two shots on goal. He had no hits or blocked shots. Trending: Up

Dylan McIlrath
Pos: 3RD
Toi: 11:10
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Plus/Minus: -1

McIlrath was on the ice for the Bruins first goal, but picked up his showing as the game proceeded until the third period. McIlrath was tossed for a hit to the head early in the final frame. Replay seemed to indicate the hit wasn’t directly to the head.

Dylan McIlrath gets 5 and a game. Doesn’t look good for Fogarty #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/MgCOI6L2L8

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) September 26, 2021

Otherwise an average showing for McIlrath. He had 1:43 of penalty kill time. He had one shot on goal. McIlrath had no hits or blocked shots. Trending: Down

Martin Fehervary
Pos: 1LD
Toi: 24:49
Goals: 0
Assists: 1
Plus/Minus: +1

Fehervary was paired with Justin Schultz on the top pair and had the second most time on ice in the first period. He showed solid responsible play on the backend, using his speed to cut off several Bruins zone entries. He had one early turnover but settled down as the game progressed. He also continued to show his physical play along the boards, something that he stepped up during last season in Hershey. Fehervary made an excellent dish to Garret Pilon for the Capitals second goal of the game. Fehervary led all Capitals in TOI. He had 2:17 of power play time and 3:24 of penalty kill time. Fehervary had two shots on goal. He had three hits and two blocked shots. Trending: Up

Martin Hugo Has
Pos: 2RD
Toi: 17:14
Goals: 0
Assists: 1

Has, who played just 18 games of organized hockey over the past 18 months, made his first appearance in a Capitals sweater. The 6’-4” right-handed defenseman had a decent showing, considering his lack of ice time over the last year and half. He was paired with Dmitry Orlov on the second pair. He recorded the first primary assist on Joe Snively’s first goal of the game. He showed his excellent speed, closing in on the puck in the corners and on the backcheck. He made one I’ll-advised pass on a breakout in the second period that almost led to a Bruins goal. Otherwise Has was very noticeable in his play, clogging passing lanes, providing good zone exits and shooting the puck. Has had 59 second of penalty kill time. He had two shots on goal. The 20-year-old will spend this season playing for the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL. Trending: Up

Advanced Stats

The following graphic presents the corsi for percentages (CF%), scoring chances for percentages (SCF%) and expected goals for percentages (xGF%) for each of the Capitals prospects that played in the first preseason game.

Offensive Zone Start Percentages

By Jon Sorensen