The Washington Capitals have struggled defensively early in the season. With a skinnier roster than usual to choose from, Peter Laviolette is making some changes.
Saturday, the coach tinkered with his defensive pairings, promoting Zdeno Chara and bumping Nick Jensen to the extra pairing.
Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand criticized Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov after the Russian quadrumvirate broke NHL protocol during a recent road trip. The group congregated together in the same hotel room after Samsonov had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The NHL placed all four players on the COVID-19 Inactive List — they’ll all miss four games at least — and levied the Capitals a $100,000 fine.
Marchand, speaking on Thursday after the Bruins’ practice, had no sympathy for the Capitals, saying the team’s Russians reaped what they sowed.
Jakub Vrana scored his third goal of the season Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. Vrana was able to pot a rebound, with the puck spinning on its side, after a heavy shot from Zdeno Chara bounced hard off Linus Ullmark’s left pad.
With the primary assist, Chara tallied his first point as a Capital.
Zdeno Chara’s a gentleman off the ice, but on it, he can sometimes give off Thanos vibes.
Friday, during a second-period scrum, Chara taught the meagerly-sized Curtiz Lazar why you should never try to forecheck against him.
Evgeny Kuznetsov is back with some wholesome hockey content for you ahead of the start of the 2020-21 season.
Tuesday, Kuznetsov asked future Hall of Famer, Zdeno Chara, if he could try out one of his gigantic sticks. Chara said yes, but only on one condition.
By Ian Oland 2 years ago
It only took a week, but Zdeno Chara already has his first goal for the Washington Capitals… sorta.
The 43-year-old defenseman scored in the Capitals’ second scrimmage of training camp to give Team White a 1-0 lead in the second period.
At 6’9″, Zdeno Chara is the tallest player in NHL history. On skates, he’s seven feet tall. He makes even the scariest of big enforcers look like gnats.
During Wednesday’s training camp session, all cameras were trained on Chara as he practiced for the first time with the Capitals main squad. But my sights were set on a different target: a photo of Chara, the tallest Capital, standing beside the shortest Capital on the current roster.
And then it happened.
By Elizabeth Kong 2 years ago
Zdeno Chara is already making his physicality felt during his first practice with Capitals starters.
During a drill, Chara, on the third pairing with Nick Jensen, cleaned out Garnet Hathaway in front of the net with ease.
By Ian Oland 2 years ago
After making his Capitals’ training camp debut on Tuesday afternoon, Zdeno Chara took the ice with the Capitals’ first group — essentially a very close version of the Caps opening night roster — Wednesday morning.
Chara’s signing was intriguing last week, not only because no one believed he would leave the Bruins this late in his career, but because it was not clear where he’d fit in Washington’s plans this season. Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette revealed his plans for The Big Z minutes into practice.
By Ian Oland 2 years ago
Zdeno Chara donned Capitals colors for the very first time on Tuesday.
The former Norris Trophy winner took the ice around 3 PM at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. The Capitals signed the legendary defender to a one-year, $795k contract last week, shocking the NHL world.
By Ian Oland 2 years ago
