Friday morning, John Carlson missed the Capitals morning skate and later was held out of the team’s 2-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Capitals said Carlson suffered a lower-body injury, but it must not have been that serious, because Carly returned to the ice Saturday for practice.
During rushes, Carlson skated with a new D partner on the second pairing: Dmitry Orlov.
Saturday afternoon was the first time that seven-year old Josiah Desper had ever skated, but he had a heck of a teacher by his side. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin greeted Josiah with a hug, helped him tie his skates, and then the two zoomed away at full speed, holding hands.
Josiah has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. His mother, Sha Desper, told NHL’s Tom Gulitti that Saturday’s skate with Ovechkin helped keep Josiah’s mind off the stress of his treatments.
“He doesn’t have to worry about doctors, hospitals, needles, treatment, pills,” Sha said. “As you see, he’s fully enjoying himself. That’s why I bring him out to stuff like this.”
The Capitals hosted Saturday’s Hockey Fights Cancer skate at Medstar Capitals Iceplex, following regular practice. Each player was paired with a Make-A-Wish kid, and children from the Capitals’ other charity partners Flashes of Hope, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network also participated in the skate.
So here’s an unfortunate reality that we have all been trying not to notice: the Caps’ top line is not working. After an absurdly successful Cup run, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov seem to have lost their magic at 5-on-5. After outscoring opponents 35 to 28 last season (and 20 to 9 in the postseason), Ovi and Kuzy are now being outscored 12 to 10. Considering how bad their defensive play has been, they should be thankful it’s that close.
Here is the case for breaking up Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.
The Washington Capitals entered Friday night’s action looking to string together victories against in division foes as they took on the Columbus Blue Jackets in some more Metro on Metro crime. This time the end result was less favorable to the red clad bunch, they fell 2-1.
The Blue Jackets out-shot the Capitals 36 to 34 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 53 to 52.
On Friday night, the Washington Capitals rocked the purple as part of the NHL’s annual Hockey Fights Cancer month. The Caps warmed-up wearing the lavender jerseys and matching lavender tape on their sticks. These items were autographed and auctioned to benefit the four cancer-related charities that MSE Foundation is contributing to this month: Flashes of Hope, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, and Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Nicklas Backstrom took it a step further and wore custom lavender skate blades during the warm-up, which ended up raising $625. Backstrom volunteered the idea himself to honor his mother Catrin, who is a breast cancer survivor.
Alex Ovechkin’s lavender jersey raised an impressive $4,300 at auction, which was unsurprisingly the most popular item. Jonas Siegenthaler’s signed jersey also ranked high at a final bid of $1,950, perhaps getting a bump from buzz surrounding the Swiss rookie’s NHL debut.
During 5-on-5 play, the Washington Capitals played an uneven game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it didn’t matter. Friday night’s game was decided by the power play, and the power play did not decide in the Caps’ favor.
The Caps played well in the first period but earned nothing for their effort. Instead, Oliver Bjorkstrand notched a power-play goal for Columbus. The Caps played like garbage in the second period but were perversely rewarded with a power-play goal from Matt Niskanen’s cannon. Then in the third, with yet another special-teams goal, Anthony Duclair gave the Jackets the winning margin.
Caps lose 2-1.
“The bar has been set,” defenseman Nate Schmidt once said to the Washington Post about the Capitals’ fashion. “And the bar is, what is Holts wearing today?”
Braden Holtby takes his suit game very seriously, and Friday night, the former Vezina Trophy-winning goalie arrived at Capital One Arena like he was dressed for an old-timey movie premiere.
The Holtbeast turned heads and electrified Twitter timelines with this lavender-colored outfit for Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
The contrast between Holtby’s fashion and his teammates’ is particularly striking.
Three years after being drafted in the second round, Swiss defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler is making his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Earlier in the day, Siegenthaler said that “I dreamed about [this moment] all my life” and that during the game he might look calm, but inside “it’s heating up.”
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin attempted to get the jitters out of the prospect early.
For the first time since the playoffs, the Washington Capitals will play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets. (If you wanna relive the fun of the loffs series, do peruse our Blooj tag.) Normally a date with John Tortorella’s team would be a guaranteed party, but the Lumbus coach has mellowed out a ton recently – aside from the Jack Johnson chatter over the summer.
Tonight’s game starts at 7:00 PM on NBC Sports Washington. You can stream the game with NBCS Washington on any of your devices beginning at 6:00 PM. I have the distinct honor of providing recap duty.
After a four-game road trip, former Capital Justin Williams returned home to quite a surprise: a very smol, very cute puppy!
While dad was out playing hockey in Arizona, Las Vegas, St. Louis, and Chicago, the Williams family decided it was a perfect time for a new addition to the family.
