Preseason: Capitals 4, Rangers 3
Scoresheet
It was almost a complete game for the Capitals. They jumped up to 4-0 lead in the first two periods, then the Rangers finally got angry and came out with a much better effort in the third. The Broadway Blueshirts cut it to with in one goal, but the Caps squeak away with the win 4-3.
The Caps seemed to have a pretty good handle on the Rangers early on. Brooks Laich made a great individual effort, stripping the puck from Michal Rosival and pulling the puck around Henrik Lundqvist to get the game's first goal. It sparked the Capitals' energy and they got the second goal late in the first when Alex Semin scored with Brendan Morrison lurking in front of the net.
Chris Bourque had a good game as he is trying to make the team. He deflected a shot past Lundqvist to make it 3-0. Mike Knuble will make goaltenders pay for bad rebounds. He put in a rebound off of Mike Green shot on the point to make it 4-0 Caps.
But in the third period, the Caps didn't put the game away. Instead they allowed the Rangers back in the game with a pair of power play goals and a bad play that caught the Caps with too many players deep, resulting in a 3 on 1 the other way.
The Caps were a little thankful the preseason is done, in record time too. Every player seems ready for the regular season to start. But there should be a few more cuts in the roster for the Caps to be under the salary cap. Both Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann will be placed on the injured reserve (IR) list, not the long term injured reserve (LTIR) to start the season. Four players are still battling for those last two spots.
On the defensive side, Tyler Sloan made it a tough decision for the Caps' management to send him down again. Both Karl Alzner and Sloan have been working for that last open spot (if there even is one).
The Caps are back at it tomorrow with a practice before the team photo and media day on Tuesday. The Capitals will open their season on the road, facing the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
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