Takeaways & Thoughts From The Capitals' Preseason Loss To Boston; What Leonard, Carbery Had To Say

Here's what to know from the Capitals' 3-1 loss to the Bruins on Thursday.

WASHINGTON — It was Ryan Leonard’s turn to shine on Thursday, as the Washington Capitlas prospect found himself all over the ice and making noise early and often against his hometown Boston Bruins.

Leonard scored and was a force to be reckoned with, but ultimately, a couple of sloppy plays and a lack of consistency led to a 3-1 loss to Boston, the team’s first defeat of the preseason.

Here are some takeaways and observations from the game, and commentary from Leonard and Carbery, as the Capitals continue to evaluate their roster and make decisions to cut it down to 23 players.

Takeaways

• Ryan Leonard is a different player going into his true rookie season, and this preseason has been a game-changer for the 20-year-old. He’s been able to get the systems down and thrive in camp, and said he finds that he’s more confident and sure of himself when carrying the puck. He’s also embraced the power forward role, and his goal against Boston came from being at the net-front and battling in the crease.

  “Just holding onto pucks a little bit. I felt like at the end of last year, I was rushing a little bit,” Leonard said. “I’ve been slowing it down a little bit and trusting myself a little bit more to make some of those plays that I know I’m capable of making.”

  It wasn’t just his offensive ability that stood out, though. His grit and tenacity were on full display as he battled hard, got under the Bruins’ skin — specifically defenseman Jonathan Aspirot — and had two hits while being a force on the forecheck.

• Hendrix Lapierre continues to lock down a role on the roster. He picked up his team-leading sixth assist on Leonard’s goal and went 11-for-18 in the face-off dot. Though his defensive play could’ve been stronger in this one, he’s more than shown he can drive a line.

• Alex Ovechkin and Martin Fehervary “accomplished what they needed to accomplish” in their preseason debuts, per Spencer Carbery. Ovechkin, playing on a line with Ilya Protas and Ivan Miroshnichenko, was trying to pass more and set up plays, and finished with one shot through 21:07 minutes. Fehervary had a team-leading five hits and was a minus-3, though he had some strong plays and looks comfortable and back to the level he was at before meniscus surgery.

• It’s safe to say that Carbery was not impressed with the blue line this game. I asked him postgame to evaluate Vincent Iorio and Dylan McIlrath’s games, as they’re both in the thick of the race for that final spot, and he deferred, choosing to use it to highlight another blueliner.

  “You know who I thought was excellent tonight? Ryan Chesley,” Carbery said, adding, “Thought he’s had a really good camp. He’s practiced well, scrimmages good. Tonight we have a spot on the left side, Ches is a right stick, doesn’t play the left side, but I felt like he earned an opportunity to get into the lineup and play tonight… I thought he was fantastic. Thought he was really, really good.”

  And Carbery wasn’t wrong; Chesley stood out, playing 20:57 minutes, the third-most of any skater, as he got time at even strength and on special teams while leading all defensemen with three shots. Only Jakob Chychrun had more ice time among blueliners.

• Andrew Cristall and Sheldon Rempal were tied for the team lead in shots with five each.

• Carbery said that it wasn’t Cristall’s night, but that he’s liked his camp and that when he’s “around the puck… for some reason, somehow, some way, it ends up in the back of the net when he’s on the ice.” Added that his 5-on-5 game was okay.

• As for Rempal, he showcased his speed and battled hard while having a knack for carrying pucks and making good plays. While he didn’t get a lot of ice time, he has stood out in the small sample size he’s gotten.

• Charlie Lindgren’s goals against were by no means the prettiest, one coming on a misplayed dump-in and the other a five-hole tap-in. However, the 31-year-old still put up solid numbers, stopping 25 of 27 shots for a .926 save percentage.