After starting the season with three points in nine games, Lars Eller is literally aflame, tallying five points in his last three outings. Thursday against the Islanders, The Great Dane scored twice, including the game-winning goal with 3:21 left in the third period.
He was your first star of the night.
In the first period, Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal of the season. In the second, Lars Eller rang the doorbell and crashed the first-goal-of-the-season party.
After Tom Wilson drew a penalty and the team up an extra man, Eller scored after a beautiful pass from Madison Bowey.
On Monday, the Washington Capitals participated in their annual canine calendar photoshoot with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. Taking photos for the 2018 calendar, the Caps wore suits while the dogs dressed equally as fancy with bow ties and pearls. Some pups even wore, prepare yourself for this, scarfs.
Capitals players Nicklas Backstrom, Madison Bowey, Alex Chiasson, Christian Djoos, Tyler Graovac, Philipp Grubauer, Braden Holtby, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Aaron Ness, Dmitry Orlov, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker, and Tom Wilson were all photographed with dogs available for adoption through Homeward Trails. The dogs won’t be available for long after their day in the spotlight!
Jay Beagle, John Carlson, Taylor Chorney, Brett Connolly, Lars Eller, Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, TJ Oshie, and Alex Ovechkin all posed with their own dogs.
Aside from the puppies (one of which Tyler Graovac tried to smuggle, or maybe even snuggle out in his pocket), Ovechkin’s two-year-old, 105-pound black lab Blake was definitely the star of the day.
While the official photos won’t be seen until the release of the calendar on November 20, we hope these adorable photos will hold you over until then.
By Cara Bahniuk 2 years ago
The Capitals took to the ice Thursday afternoon after the team’s 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins the night before. After giving up three goals while on the penalty kill, the Capitals spent over half their practice time going through special-teams drills.
Check out the photos after the jump, which include lots of smiling faces. Caps take on the Devils in New Jersey Friday night.
By Cara Bahniuk 2 years ago
Saturday before their home opener, the Washington Capitals walked a red carpet before absolutely throttling the Montreal Canadiens 6-1. The players, arriving in Capitals-branded Lexuses, were escorted down the red carpet by a fan chosen by the team. The Caps signed autographs, took photos, and showed off their fanciest suits.
By Cara Bahniuk 2 years ago
A few hours before the Capitals made the most recent set of training camp cuts, the boys took the ice for another preseason preseason practice. Split amongst the two rinks at Kettler Iceplex, the Caps held normal practice before taking the ice as a team and working on their special-teams units.
The Capitals will host the New Jersey Devils tonight at Capital One Arena. With only three more preseason games on the schedule, the regular season is upon us.
By Cara Bahniuk 2 years ago
Lars Eller is taking his offseason workouts to the next level.
Wednesday at Montreal’s Adrenaline Performance Center, Eller shadowed one of the greatest NFL wide receivers of all time, Terrell Owens, during a drill to work on his speed and agility. The Capitals third-line center kept up with Owens for a few seconds before getting dusted at the end.
By Cara Bahniuk 2 years ago
8:30pm Update: The Caps just traded for Tyler Graovac to give themselves more flexibility ahead of the expansion draft.
Original story: Several weeks ago, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said that he generally knew who the Caps were going to protect for the upcoming expansion draft. The club would protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender.
The Washington Capitals’ senior writer, Mike Vogel, published an article that gave insight into what he believes is the team’s thinking as they prepare for the expansion draft.
While Vogel doesn’t expect any surprises, he did report an interesting nuance that could cause the Caps to expose both bottom-six centers, Lars Eller and Jay Beagle.
The Caps traded two second round picks to the Montreal Canadiens for Lars Eller at the 2016 Draft, looking for the Danish center to fill a hole down the middle on the third line. If Eller’s first season in DC is any indication, the trade will come good and the team will be getting another stellar year from him next season.
By Chris Cerullo 2 years ago
When the buzzer sounded at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals made their way back to the locker room. The Pittsburgh Penguins had beaten them 3-2, putting them on the brink of elimination in the second round.
Inside the locker room, the Capitals gave trite answers to reporters about never giving up on a series and how the team could play better. There was one issue with this company line: the Capitals had played well enough to win. They’ve done it in all four games that have been played against Pittsburgh yet trail in the best-of-seven series 3-1. On Wednesday, Washington outshot Pittsburgh a remarkable 38-18.
The Capitals are now going to be staring the end of their season in the face on Saturday night at Verizon Center. After dropping Game Four by a close margin, the Caps began searching for something to blame. Like every other game in this series, their criticisms were self-directed.
“I would say I didn’t play my game at all tonight,” Alex Ovechkin told reporters. “I think me personally have to play much better.”
“I think I didn’t control the puck well and make stupid decisions,” he added.
By Chris Gordon 2 years ago
