Ohio Players – Following an early Monday morning skate, the Caps head to Columbus in hope of better travel fortunes than the Jackets had on Friday when they came to the District to face Washington. The Blue Jackets spent several hours on the tarmac on Friday afternoon, unable to depart on time for Friday’s scheduled 7 p.m. start. Their late arrival to the District resulted in an opening puck drop delay of about 100 minutes.
Although they fell behind on Alex Ovechkin’s first goal of the preseason early in the first period, the Jackets shook off that adversity and rolled to an 8-4 win over Washington.
Most preseason road trips are “up and back;” teams depart their home city in the early afternoon and return home immediately after the contest. Given the four-day gap between tonight’s exhibition against the Jackets and Saturday’s preseason finale against the Bruins at Capital One Arena, the Caps are taking a few extra days in Columbus.
Golf clubs will be accompanying hockey gear on the flight to Ohio. A golf outing, a couple of practices, a team dinner, and other team-building and bonding activities are slated for the next few days in Columbus, and the team will return home to the District on Thursday afternoon.
With at least seven newly acquired players likely to be on the opening night roster, the Caps are in the midst of their largest personnel turnover from one season to the next in two decades. Most of their early season trips are one-game journeys, so carving out some time in Columbus late in training camp can help foster some of that bonding and togetherness that helps teams thrive.
“On practice days [at home], us older guys have kids and stuff,” says Caps’ defenseman John Carlson. “There’s not much free time for us to do stuff at home, so it’s great to be able to do it on the road, and to get away from the day-to-day stuff that we will do so much of this year, coming in here and practicing [day after day].
“It’s all great things that go alongside that, in terms of just building that camaraderie, and one last mental check to get out of having to answer questions every day and that sort of mentality. And we can clear our heads one more time, before it’s real when we get back.”
A few of the Caps’ traveling crew are fairly familiar with Ohio’s capital city. Skills coach Kenny McCudden spent eight seasons with the Jackets, and Washington winger Sonny Milano and center P-L Dubois started their respective careers there.
“Obviously I’ve been back since [being traded to Winnipeg],” says Dubois, “but I’ve never really had time to walk around and see the city a bit. It’ll be fun to have a few days there and to see if some of your favorite spots are still there.”
It’s been more than three and a half years since the Jan. 23, 2021 trade that sent Dubois to the Jets, and a city can change a fair bit over that much time.
“There was this coffee spot, right off High St., but I forget what it’s called,” says Dubois. “It’s right off High St. a nice little hole-in-the wall place where we’d go for brunch sometimes.
“My first year, I lived in Upper Arlington, and we’d go to this restaurant called The Avenue that I liked a lot. But honestly, from when I got drafted [in 2016] to now, the city has grown so much and changed so much. The guys here have been asking me about restaurants and spots, and then I go online, and I look at the maps and I see I don’t remember much because there are so many new places. It will be interesting to have a few days there and see some of the new stuff they’ve got.”
Grind With Me – Entering his seventh season with the Capitals, veteran center Nic Dowd has more tenure with the team than everyone except Carlson, Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Dowd played his 500th career NHL contest in the regular season finale in Philly last April, and he’ll continue his climb with new linemates this season. Dowd will have newcomers Brandon Duhaime on his left side and Taylor Raddysh on his right.
“These are two veteran players,” says Dowd of his new linemates. “They're seven years younger than me, but they’re two players that have played close to 300 games. They've been in a couple different organizations; Dewey was traded at the deadline to be in a playoff run [in Colorado].
“I think they're smart guys. I think the biggest thing – in talking to both of them – is that they knew coming in here what their role was going to be. And having a well-defined role as a depth player is huge. That’s what made my career, and it gives you a lot of positivity. You know coming into the rink that you're not just on a line that doesn't really have a role, and you’re not in and out of lineup, where a lot of us have been in our careers. They knew coming in that this is who we're going to play with, and this is what our line needs to do.
“Honestly, talking to them, I think they were really excited to get started on that. And I think it comes out in our game where we have a responsibility. All anybody wants is to be given some responsibility and to be able to run with it. I was the same way earlier in my career, and like I said, these guys aren't early in their career by any means; they’ve both figured it out. And it helps to have veteran players that can fit right in with you. They're happy to know what they get to do.”
38 Special – Caps defenseman Rasmus Sandin missed the beginning of training camp because of visa issues, finally arriving in D.C. early last week.
“You have to focus on what you actually can control,” says Sandin of the delayed entry. “I was taking some extra time, but at least I’m here now and getting back with the team. During the time, it was frustrating, but it was nice to have some contact with some of the guys on the team, too, in trying to calm me down a little bit. But I’m finally here, and I’m happy about that.”
Sandin skated on his own last week when the Caps were in New Jersey, and he rejoined his mates for Thursday and Friday’s practice sessions. While the rest of the team took Saturday off, Sandin came in to perform his skate test.
“I just got in Tuesday night or something like that, and just got back in and I had the skating test [Saturday],” he says. “So I’m feeling good, getting back on track and getting ready to go for the last two preseason games.”
Sandin will make his 2024 preseason debut tonight in Columbus, skating the left side of a pairing with Trevor van Riemsdyk.
“I feel really good now,” says Sandin. “The first day, I was pretty stiff after a 12- or 13-hour plane ride; I guess that’s what comes with it. But I feel good.”
In The Nets – Logan Thompson is expected to start and go the distance in Monday’s preseason match against Columbus. In his first preseason outing this past Wednesday, Thompson turned in a top-notch performance against the Devils in New Jersey, recording the Caps’ lone victory of the preseason to date.
Thompson stopped 25 of 28 shots against the Devils, but he made some key stops early to keep the game close, and some dazzling saves late to preserve Washington’s third period lead as the plucky and dangerous Devils tried in vain to overcome a multi-goal deficit in the third.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we expect the Capitals to line up for Monday’s exhibition game in Columbus, and here also is an expected roster for the Blue Jackets:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 29-Lapierre, 21-Protas
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 16-Raddysh
13-Vrana, 23-Sgarbossa, 63-Miroshnichenko
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
27-Alexeyev, 52-McIlrath
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
COLUMBUS
Forwards
12-O.Sillinger
21-J. van Riemsdyk
23-Monahan
38-Jenner
41-McKown
45-Brindley
64-Fix-Wolansky
65-Del Bel Belluz
67-Malatesta
82-Pyyhtia
86-Marchenko
91-K. Johnson
Defensemen
2-Christiansen
5-Mateychuk
8-Werenski
9-Provorov
44-Gudbranson
78-Severson
Goaltenders
40-Tarasov
73-Greaves
