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The Washington Capitals worked on special teams early in camp, and they got a chance to deploy them Sunday in Boston in their exhibition opener.
Washington got seven power plays in their 3-2 shootout loss to the Bruins, while they had to kill of six minor penalties of their own.
While the Capitals didn’t notch a power-play goal with their chances, both goals came within seconds of the penalties expiring.
Washington got a rare full two-minute 5-on-3 early in the contest and held the puck in Boston’s zone nearly the entirety of the two minutes, and Jonny Brodzinski opened the preseason for Washington just four seconds after it expired.
After the Bruins tied it in the second, Ivan Miroshnichenko scored on a scramble early in the third, again just four seconds after a Boston penalty expired.
The Capitals had ample power-play time in the overtime, outshooting Boston 8-1 and 32-30 for the game, but ended up losing as James Hagens scored the only goal in the shootout.
With the shorter preseason, Washington rolled out a more veteran lineup than you’d normally see in a road preseason opener, as Boone Jenner, Alex Tuch and Vincent Desharnais made their Capitals debuts.
Tuch and Jenner got power play time, while the latter also played penalty kills, and Jenner helped create Washington’s second goal even though he did not get a point on the play.
Logan Thompson played the entire game for Washington, and was in regular-season form, keeping the Bruins at bay most of the night, stopping 28 of 30 shots, with both Boston goals coming with an extra skater.
Thompson made some stellar stops down the stretch to keep Washington ahead, but Charlie McAvoy’s drive with the goaltender pulled forced the extra session
Of the players on the bubble, Miroshnichenko dressed, and scored a goal and picked up an assist. Ilya Protas nor Andrew Cristall dressed for Washington, giving the Russian a chance to make his case to make the roster.
The Capitals will play their second preseason game Monday at Giant Center in Hershey, with a lot of the lineup that didn’t play in Boston dressing, particularly some of the Hershey-bound players to dress in Capitals colors before joining Bears camp.
This will be the second consecutive season Washington has played an exhibition game at the home of their AHL affiliate, as they beat the same opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1 last September 25.
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