Washington Capitals: Breaking down preseason rematch with Devils

The Washington Capitals are still searching for that first preseason game as they enter tonight’s game with an 0-2-1 record. They’ll take on the New Jersey Devils who beat them five nights ago 5-4.

Before we go into the roster, the Caps did the following moves on Sunday, reducing their training camp roster to 34 players: assign Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Brett Leason, and Joe Snively to the Hershey Bears. Jonsson-Fjallby required waivers and was actually claimed today by the Buffalo Sabres.

Here is the roster for tonight’s game:

Forwards
Daniel Sprong
Lars Eller
Garnet Hathaway
Michael Sgarbossa
Connor McMichael
Nic Dowd
Hendrix Lapierre
Mike Vecchione
Garrett Pilon
Tom Wilson
Beck Malenstyn
Aliaksei Protas
Carl Hagelin
Brian Pinho

Defnse
Dmitry Orlov
Alex Alexeyev
Martin Fehervary
Tobas Geisser
Matt Irwin
Trevor Van Riemsdyk
John Carlson

Goalies
Vitek Vanecek
Zach Fucale

Ilya Samsonov played well the other night in Philadelphia but has missed the last two days of practice with a lower body injury. Vitek Vanecek is expected to play all three periods of tonight’s game. The Caps also assigned Pheonix Copley to Hersey today in a move that will require waivers.

For Vanecek, tonight is his second appearance of the preseason. In his 2021-22 preseason debut against the Boston Bruins on September 26, Vanecek stopped all nine shots faced in 25 minutes of play. In four career starts against New Jersey, Vanecek is 4-0-0 with a 2.44 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

Vanecek was reacquired this offseason after he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL Expansion Draft. Vanecek finished his rookie season with a 21-10-4 record with two shutouts, a 2.69 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. His 21 wins led all rookie goaltenders and he joined Michal Neuvirth as the only rookie goaltender in franchise history to record at least 21 wins in a season. Neuvrith had 27 in 2010-11.

Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael will be playing tonight. Lapierre recorded two assists in the Capitals previous preseason game agains the Devils on September 29. It was his second multi assist game after recording two assists in the preseason opener against the Boston Bruins. Through games played Oct. 2, Lepierre’s four assists rank tied for second in the NHL and are tied for the most among rookies with William Eklund of the San Jose Sharks. The 22nd overall pick in 2020 is also ranked tied for seventh in the NHL in points through games played Oct. 2.

McMichael appears in his third preseason game. Through his first two games he has recorded four shots on goal while wining 13 out of his 22 face offs (59.1 percent). Tonight look for McMichael to center the second line with Daniel Sprong and Mike Vecchione. Lapierre will center the third line between Aliaksei Protas and Garrett Pilon.

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. You won’t be able to catch it on TV but it will be streamed locally online at WashingtonCaps.com. You can also listen to the game on Caps Radio 24/7 and 106.7 The Fan.