It was a disjointed effort for the Capitals during Monday night’s 2-1 preseason loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The Caps were 0-for-5 on the power play – to be expected considering the units were a mishmash of veterans and roster hopefuls. But their effort was a little flat and an ugly minute in the second period led to two Buffalo goals 11 seconds apart. Defenseman Karl Alzner is trying to fight his way onto the roster. And while he had his moments on Monday he was also a -2. He was paired with fellow defenseman Mike Green for the first time this preseason and that unfamiliarity showed at times. Alzner spent a lot of time backing up when Green made his patented rushes up ice.
“Yeah, that wasn’t the best shift,” Alzner said. “We were battling pretty good and then one play [the second goal by Buffalo forward Patrick Kaleta] we were a little over-aggressive. We talked about before the game they like to make no-look passes in front. It was good pass and it went through me with two guys crashing. I definitely overplayed it. But [the coaching staff] said if you’re going to make mistakes make aggressive ones. So I guess that was an aggressive one.”
Those mistakes are not easy for Alzner to take. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has said Alzner needs to take a veteran’s job by knockout. And there are seven vets ahead of him and fellow rookie John Carlson entering training camp.
“Me personally it’s a little bit different. I think in my case every mistake is kind of a point against me in my position right now,” Alzner said. “It’s tough to have those. But at the same time I can’t let that get into my head. It was one play. The goal before that was – we battled and then got a little bit out-manned in front and they had a nice tip. So one bad play doesn’t make a bad day for me at least…I thought [the rest of the night] was good. I did what I wanted to do. I battled hard. I was tight on my man. I didn’t let them get too much ice. And that’s all that I was focusing on. It was a good game. It [stinks] that one shift like that…but it’s the NHL so it’s to be expected.”
