Takeaways From Capitals Preseason Finale

The Washington Capitals closed out the preseason schedule with a roster that likely is the least experienced that has ever dressed for a Washington team. Yet they more than held their own against essentially the full Philadelphia Flyers lineup in a 5-1 win to finish 3-0-1 in the exhibition slate.

And while the game seemed like it was a forgettable preseason mismatch like other blowouts around the league, the player with the most NHL experience said it was a game he wouldn’t forget.

Only Ethen Frank (86 NHL games), Ivan Miroshnicenko (52 games) and Louie Belpedio (16 games) had seen any NHL action among the Washington skaters, and 23 combined NHL goals total. Both Washington goaltenders, Charlie Lindgren (170 games) and Cal Petersen (106 games) were by far the most experienced NHL players among those dressed for the Capitals.

The Hershey Bears-heavy lineup held their own despite facing the nearly complete NHL lineup, quieting the crowd in Philadelphia and outlasting a barrage of shots in the first two periods to roll to the win.

Charlie Lindgren, who wasn’t overly impressive on Monday in half a game against the Flyers, was excellent in net for the first two periods as he looks to retain the backup role, stopping 32 of 33 Philadelphia shots he faced.

“Just before the game it almost felt similar to ‘Miracle,’” Lindgren said afterwards. “Pure silence in [the locker room], hear some tape. And gosh, we went out and put on a heck of a performance.

“Even Carbs said postgame that none of us will ever forget. Just with the lineups, they had their full team, and we pretty much had no NHL guys and came up with a win.”

Petersen, on a PTO with the Capitals as insurance, played the third for the Caps, but wasn’t tested much by the Flyers.

Andrew Cristall and Frank, both in the mix for the last forward spots, had goals for Washington as they made their last pushes to be included on the 23-man roster due Monday.

Theodor Niederbach, Maxim Schafer and Lynden Lakovic also scored for the Capitals.

While the game probably won’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of things and won’t count in the standings, it will certainly be something for most of the AHL players to be a part of handling an NHL roster, even if the game doesn’t count.

”I’ll never forget this game in Philadelphia,” Lindgren said.

”I was on the bench; guys were super excited to take it to an NHL team, he added. “Philadelphia it’s not like they were coasting around out there. They were trying win a hockey game … definitely a feel-good win.”

So as the red Capitals hockey bags from the locker room were being packed to head off with most of the players heading to the minors after roster cutdown day, the 20-man roster pulled off an impressive win over an NHL club with mostly spare parts.

”I’ve coached at a lot of different levels and coached a lot of preseason games, and you don’t remember,” Spencer Carbery said afterwards. “This one you’ll remember.

“You’ll remember going to Philly, these young kids, most of them going to the American Hockey League or junior, and beat Philly’s opening lineup. That’s impressive. They should be proud of themselves.”