Well, that was impressive. The Caps whipped Chicago 6-2 in their fourth preseason game on Wednesday night. Alex Ovechkin had two goals. More important, forward Mike Knuble banged home a pair as well in the first period. There’s no question Washington’s already-potent power play takes on an added dimension with the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder parking himself in front of the net.
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau dished out some effusive praise for Knuble afterwards.
“Mike is a meat-and-potatoes guy and coaches love guys like that – and with a scoring touch. He goes to the net. It’s an element I think other than [Ovechkin] we really didn’t have last year. A guy that just loves to go to the front of the net. [Brooks Laich] to some degree. But [Knuble’s] made his living there. And you could see that first goal – it was him going to the net and then getting his feet and everything involved and scoring the goal. And a pretty skilled goal on the second shot – on the second goal – too…. It’s great to have that ability to have that kind of forward. And that’s no disrespect to [departed free agents Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov]. We’d like to have them as well. But it’s just another element that we haven’t seen around Washington in a while
Knuble hinted his 37-year-old legs would love a day off instead of playing Thursday against the Rangers. Boudreau seemed ready to oblige as long as the Caps have enough healthy players to take with them to New York. There are still 36 in training camp as of Wednesday night.
Now, let’s not go completely crazy. The Blackhawks are headed to Europe on Monday for their final two preseason games against a pair of Swiss clubs and then begin the regular season with two games against the Florida Panthers in Finland next week. So they didn’t exactly play inspired hockey. Also, top defense pairing Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith – as well as Cam Barker – didn’t play. The rest of Chicago’s “D” was overmatched against a veteran Caps lineup that was clicking on the power play. Washington finished 3-for-6 with the man advantage.
Tyler Sloan, D
One of a batch of defensemen fighting for one of the final spots. At least helped himself with a goal on a shot through traffic from the point. Also solid in his own end most of the night. The Caps remember well Sloan’s play last season when he stabilized an injury-depleted blueline early in the season.
Boudreau again: “We can’t – and I don’t meant this in a bravado sense – but the 10 defensemen that we have here it’s hard to put somebody out there that we say they’re just rookies trying to learn they’re way They’re pretty good defensemen and I think all 10 of them are capable of playing on a regular basis in the NHL. That’s what’s going to make these [final roster] decisions very difficult.
Semyon Varlamov, G
Wasn’t challenged early. But when the Caps got a little loose in the third period up four goals the 21-year-old Russian made several strong stops, including a a pair during a Chicago power play. Played the whole game. Saved 26 of 28 Blackhawks shots. His rebound control was excellent in the third period as the Hawks finally pushed back and got his team a few line changes when his defensemen were dead tired.
“I got to believe that Varly’s got a good chance of being here,” Boudreau said. “He played really well.”
