The Washington Capitals practiced at Capital One Arena again on Tuesday, continuing preparations for their opening game against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. The club finalized their roster for the game earlier in the day.
Per RMNB’s Katie Adler, head coach Spencer Carbery made no changes to the lines he deployed at practice on Monday.
Lines
Hendrix Lapierre took up his regular position as the team’s third-line center despite being technically “sent” to the AHL’s Hershey Bears on paper when Washington finalized their opening roster Monday evening. Lapierre was papered down so the Capitals could optimally reap the benefits of TJ Oshie’s salary eventually being placed on long-term injured reserve.
The #ALLCAPS sent Hendrix Lapierre down prior to submitting their opening roster. It is $9.03M over cap with 21 (11F/8D/2G)
LTIR: Backstrom $9.2M
IR: Oshie $5.75MThey're $168K within optimal LTIR capture.
Can add $5.75M cap space w/ Oshie to LTIRhttps://t.co/WYTgGbMnSv
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 8, 2024
The left wing of that third line appears to be the only undecided position heading into the game against New Jersey, with Sonny Milano and Jakub Vrana still splitting reps. Vrana’s one-year deal with the club was officially announced before the Capitals took the ice for their skate.
Goaltender Logan Thompson was absent again for personal reasons after also missing Monday’s skate. Thompson and Charlie Lindgren are the only goaltenders currently on Washington’s roster after the Capitals sent Hunter Shepard to Hershey on Monday.
“Yeah, still not sure [on Thompson],” Carbery said Tuesday. “We won’t practice tomorrow, but hopefully [will] know more on Thursday.”
The Capitals also invited the team’s original 36 season ticket account holders to watch the practice from the game rink. Several players, including Alex Ovechkin and Vrana, surprised a select number of those fans on Monday with in-home deliveries of gifts and their tickets for this season.
Those in attendance on Tuesday then had a meet and greet with Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, and John Carlson.
We had the delight of hosting more of our original season ticket members during practice at @CapitalOneArena today for a meet & greet with Willy, Carly and O!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/dOgVWvs3Nf
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 8, 2024
The club’s two practices from their game rink this week were closed to the public. Carbery decided to practice at Cap One for a few days to help break up the week between Washington’s final preseason game and their regular season opener.
The Capitals will return to practicing at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Thursday and Friday.
