The Washington Capitals ran power play drills during the fourth day of training camp ahead of Thursday’s second preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings. The first unit is filled with familiar faces: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Capitals running their first power play drills of camp. Their first unit has plenty of familiar faces:
Ovechkin, Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Carlson, Oshie
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) September 27, 2023
The second unit is a bit more interesting. It consists of Tom Wilson, Andrew Cristall, Connor McMichael, Rasmus Sandin and Ivan Miroshnichenko. Miroschnichenko was in Ovechkin’s spot at the left faceoff circle.
The second unit:
Miroshnichenko, McMichael, Cristall, Sandin, Wilson
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) September 27, 2023
From 2009 to 2023, the Capitals power play was 21.8%, which was the best in the league during that time frame. Last year it was very inconsistent, in large part due to missing personnel, but there were also structural flaws and execution errors with the formation.
Washington’s power play was 16th in the NHL at 21.2% in 2022-23. Nicklas Backstrom, who is the setup man on the power-play, missed the entire first half of last season, and John Carlson, who is the anchor at the point, missed significant time after taking a puck to the face in late December.
Related: New Faces look to Provide Much Needed Stoking of Capitals Power Play
By Jacob Cheris