(Dawning of a) New Era – Caps captain Alex Ovechkin and longtime core players Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson are all expected to be in the lineup tonight when Washington faces Detroit at Capital One Arena tonight in the second preseason tuneup for both clubs.
And while the Caps’ lineup will feature a number of veteran stalwarts, there are also a pair of skilled young forwards in the Washington lineup tonight, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Andrew Cristall. Both will be suiting up for their first-ever preseason game at the NHL level. Miroshnichenko was the Caps’ first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, and Cristall was the Caps’ second-round selection (40th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Nineteen years plus one week after his own NHL preseason debut, Ovechkin has different goals these days when he gets his first exhibition action in 2023 tonight.
“Just to feel the game,” he says. “Obviously, preseason is preseason. You don’t get too excited or get too much energy, but you just have to feel the play and the rhythm a little bit because the regular season is going to be a different game. It’s going to be much faster, much more physical.”
For most veteran Caps, it’s been a long time between playing games that matter after one of the longest summers in recent memory in these parts.
“More than anything, it’s been a long time,” says Oshie. “So while I’m very, very excited about the way we’re going to look this year, I’m mostly excited just to get on the ice and play in a competitive manner. That’s all I’m trying to get out of [Thursday’s game]. Just get the competitive juices flowing – and they’ve been flowing a little too much against my own [teammates] the last couple of days – and it’ll be nice to get out there and work on the game.”
Translate Slowly – As he prepares for his first season of hockey in North American, Miroshnichenko is working to improve his English. The 19-year-old Russian is working with a tutor, and he is also getting help from teammates in terms of translating the coaching staff’s instructions and messages.
“I talked to him after [Wednesday’s] practice,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery, “and what I want to see – and I think it’s what management and we all want to see – I told him in my most elementary English is: Systems, don’t care. Structure, don’t care. I don’t want him overthinking it. I don’t want him thinking he is in the wrong spot, or ‘Where should I be, what should I do?’
“I want to see him go out and compete his butt off and work all over the ice, in his 12, 14, 16 [minutes], whatever he plays. I want to see him skate, compete, play with a ton of pace, play with a ton of urgency, up and down at both ends of the ice. That’s what I want to see from him.”
Miroshnichenko is expected to man the right side of a line with Ovechkin and Backstrom, a couple of pretty good linemates for a 19-year-old playing his first NHL preseason game. Ovechkin echoes Carbery’s message when he speaks with his young linemate.
“I will tell Miro, ‘Just be yourself and don’t think about it too much,’” says Ovechkin. “Go enjoy. It’s a dream come true for him to play in NHL, preseason or not. I remember my first preseason game, almost 20 years ago. I remember I was very excited to try to do my best to make the team. But yeah, just play your game and do your thing, and enjoy.”
The Caps have seen Miroshnichenko in rookie camp and in scrimmages, but the real evaluation begins when he steps on the ice for game action against players in enemy sweaters.
“I think it’s hard to say something about the player after practices,” says Kuznetsov of Miroshnichenko. “I think you’ve got to see them in a game, give them an opportunity to wake up, do a morning skate, lunch, nap, and prepare for that game. That’s when you can probably talk about about his game.
“But off ice, he’s been great. He has been working hard and listening to people, and so far I think he is building the good habits of an NHL player. Everything is in his hands, and I think he is going to continue to work like that. As soon as he is going to speak English better and understand what coach is asking and stuff like that, it’s going to help him much more.”
The Corridors of Power – With a large chunk of Washington’s top six forward group in the lineup tonight, we will see a better representation of the Caps’ power play in tonight’s game as well. The Capitals’ extra-man unit went 0-for-3 with three shots on net in 4:44 worth of power play time in Sunday’s preseason opener against Buffalo.
“We’ll see some movement for sure,” says Carbery of the power play outfit. “Just moving some things around and trying to keep penalty kills off balance. We have to do that with how successful this group has been in a certain scenario, and now how much goes into the penalty kills and the pre-scouts and taking away Ovi and all that stuff. We just have to try to stay ahead of it and find ways to keep penalty kills off balance. That’s the simple answer to it, and that’s what we’ll do with moving people around, showing different looks, and all that stuff will be integrated into our power play.”
Oshie affirms Carbery’s assessment, but also cautions that the extra-man unit may look the same to fans.
“There’s some little tweaks that we’re going to have to make,” he says. “I think essentially, it’s going to be a similar look. And there might be just these different reads that we have to make off of that to catch some of these penalty kills off their guard.
“It’s somewhat different with [Ovechkin] in his office over there, and the way teams defend him more than other teams. And our scout for them is also different, because a lot of teams nowadays play man-on-man with Ovi, and they try to play 4-on-3 on the rest of us, and they pack it in and try to take away me and John [Carlson].
“So there are going to be some different reads and some different looks. It may look a little more fluid and a little less stationary. Before, we could kind of let our passing do the work and that was enough to open it up. Now, we might need to move a little bit more. So it’ll be different, and it’s also going to be a work in progress. It’s going to be based on how other teams play us, and maybe we find something that gives us more success than our standard unit.
“We’re going to make more reads and maybe play a little more hockey. Those two guys on the goal line [Kuznetsov] and the half wall [Backstrom] are phenomenal players. Even if they had no idea what to do, they’d probably find a way to score. It’s up to me, Ovi and John to give them outlets to get pucks into the net.”
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the start in net for Washington tonight – making his first appearance of the exhibition season – and he’ll be backed up by Hunter Shepard, who was excellent in his own preseason debut on Sunday against Buffalo. According to Carbery, Lindgren will go the distance in goal for the Caps tonight.
“I was just talking to [goaltending partner Darcy] Kuemper this morning,” says Lindgren. “For me, it’s been five months since we’ve played a hockey game, and that’s a long time. So for myself to go out there and be able to play a full game, I think it’s going to be really good for me.
“I’ll probably play a couple of preseason games, but this is just a good way of knocking some of that rust off and getting out there on the Capital One Arena ice again and playing with the guys. I’m really looking forward to another chance to play at Cap One, and I’m just really excited.”
Detroit is bringing a trio of goaltenders with it to Washington, with veteran journeyman Alex Lyon slated to get the start. The Wings are expected to make a mid-game switch to Sebastian Cossa in the crease; Cossa was Detroit’s first-round choice (15th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft. He spent most of his first pro season with ECHL Toledo in 2022-23, getting into three games with AHL Grand Rapids as well.
All Lined Up – Here is how we believe the Capitals might line up tonight, and here also Red Wings’ roster for Thursday’s preseason contest:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 63-Miroshnichenko
24-McMichael, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
91-Snively, 26-Dowd, 77-Oshie
28-Cristall, 23-Sgarbossa, 72-Dube
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
4-Haman Aktell, 27-Alexeyev
46-Johansen, 2-Iorio
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
31-Shepard
DETROIT
Forwards
14-Robby Fabbri
24-Klim Kostin
36-Christian Fischer
37-JT Compher
42-Nolan Stevens
44-Artem Anisimov
50-Dominik Shine
63-Alexandre Doucet
67-Joel L’Esperance
74-Cross Hanas
88-Daniel Sprong
90-Joe Veleno
92-Marco Kasper
Defensemen
2-Olli Maatta
3-Juatin Holl
20-Albert Johansson
52-Brogan Rafferty
62-Wyatt Newpower
77-Simon Edvinsson
84-Josiah Didier
Goaltenders
33-Sebastian Cossa
34-Alex Lyon
60-Jan Bednar
