For all the talk of Alex Ovechkin being “nicked up,” the Washington Capitals captain looked strong in his preseason debut against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday – a 5-3 victory.
In 14:25 of ice time, Ovechkin led all skaters with a game-high 5 hits and finished the night with a plus-minus of plus-one. While he was held without a shot on goal, Ovechkin had two shot attempts (both scoring chances) and registered a secondary assist on a Dylan Strome goal in the third period.
“I thought O was really good tonight,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game. “Set the tone physically, a couple big hits early in the game from him… Thought Stromer’s line was good.”
Ovechkin skated well and formed a formidable trio with Strome and Andrew Mangiapane. The Capitals first line combined for a game-high two five-on-five goals and none against, showing immediate chemistry between the three veterans.
Mangiapane, a fast-moving and offensively-potent player, also showed his grittiness against the Devils. He blocked four shots and was hard in the corners, winning puck battles and being hard to play against -just like the man he is trying to help replace, TJ Oshie.
“First couple practices, extremely intelligent player,” Carbery said of Mangiapane earlier in Training Camp. “All the things that we’ve talked about and instilled – first couple reps, and he’s got it. He’s in the right spot, makes the right read. So that I noticed in the first two days and then I like that he’s got a little bit of a dog on a bone.
“He is in on pucks around the net, able to slip his way out of 1-on-1 situations, and spin so all of a sudden he has a little space. From a puck recovery, forecheck, keeping pucks alive in the offensive zone, I think he’ll be able to help that line.”
Ovechkin and Strome generated offense last season together. With the two on the ice, the Capitals were above water in shot attempts (50.9%), expected goals (51.7%), scoring chances (51.6%), and high-danger chances (53.5%), but were outscored 33 to 25. Mangiapane’s addition should help soften those rough edges.
“Strome and O, overall, we went to it, away from it – but they, overall sample, were productive last year,” Carbery said. “Even though it didn’t always end up in the back of the net, they usually were on the right side of the ledger.”
Ovechkin took a maintenance day and was not on the ice for the Capitals’ Training Camp session on Thursday.
Carbery said he expects Ovechkin to play in three of the team’s six preseason games.
