WASHINGTON, DC — Alex Ovechkin and Martin Fehervary returned to the Capitals’ lineup on Thursday night, facing the Boston Bruins for their first game of the preseason. While Washington ultimately fell 3-1, head coach Spencer Carbery spoke highly of the pair’s return to play.
“I thought they were good,” Carbery said postgame. “They accomplished what they needed to accomplish. They needed to get through a game and get some game reps. Ovi did that. Marty did that.
Ovechkin and Fehervary have both been recovering from injury: Ovechkin sustained a lower-body injury at the start of training camp, while Fehervary underwent surgery last spring to repair the meniscus in his right knee. Carbery told reporters last week that he hoped to get Ovechkin into a pair of games before Opening Night, before later confirming that Ovechkin would return for the penultimate preseason game.
Both players skated significant minutes against Boston, with Ovechkin recording 21:07 of ice time and Fehervary playing 19:40. Ovechkin registered just one shot on goal in the loss, and Carbery noted that the team overall was perhaps too focused on making an extra pass.
“I thought we did that a little bit,” he said. “Did you guys notice that? As a team, we passed up some opportunities in some scenarios where we could have attacked the net.”
Ovechkin skated on the right wing of a line with Russian countryman Ivan Miroshnichenko and Belarusian prospect Ilya Protas. Carbery relayed the rationale behind playing the three together, explaining that he believed there would be a level of comfort and natural chemistry between the three.
“I think giving Miro and (Ovechkin) a chance, or those two playing together, the familiarity there is between those two, and then Pro in the middle there,” Carbery said. “There were some objectives with some other lines of trying to get them together to see what that looks like, so I felt like it was a line that could show something.”
Miroshnichenko recorded a team-high seven individual shot attempts, six individual scoring chances, and four individual high-danger chances during his 13:55 of ice time. Protas, playing in his fourth exhibition game this fall, played at all three strengths, recording 17:48 of ice time.
Carbery was particularly positive about Fehervary’s return effort, the 25-year-old Slovak blueliner’s first game action since April 15 of last season.
“[Fehervary] kills a couple rushes with a good stick on puck, physical play,” he said. “Thought he looked good for having not played in a game yet. Looked like his feet were under him. Looked powerful and strong, and his skating didn’t look like it was any further behind than it normally is.”
While he received those encouraging words from his bench boss, Fehervary was on the ice for all three of Boston’s goals. He also recorded the worst game score on the team.
The Capitals will have one last chance for veterans like Ovechkin and Fehervary to see some action before the regular season begins. The team’s preseason finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets is on Saturday at 7 pm.
