Washington Capitals: Top 3 heroes against Chicago Blackhawks

There were many stars in the Washington Capitals 6-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Washington Capitals played their most complete 60-minute game of the preseason. I know what you’re thinking, “yeah sure, none of these games count though.”

While true, it’s important to note that after a couple rounds of roster cuts you saw a varsity squad lineup for the most part on the Capitals side.

On the Blackhawks side, it was no different. Their stars Jonathan Towes and Patrick Kane while starting netminder Corey Crawford had a frustrating night.

Here are who I think were the top 3 players who made the biggest impact in Washington’s 6-0 win.

Lars Eller

Lars Eller recorded three shots on goal and two of them went in the net. In his first preseason game, Eller picked up where he left off by continuing to be a menace down low.

It’s exactly how he scored both goals. His first one came when he outmuscled Erik Gustafsson in front of the net to deflect a shot from John Carlson.

His next one was almost similar to the biggest goal of his life. On a shot from T.J. Oshie that Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford thought he had a stop but the loose puck sat right there for Eller to tap it in.

John Carlson

John Carlson had another stellar offensive game recording two points with a goal and an assist and he was very close to getting two goals with Lars Eller‘s deflection on the first goal. Overall he had three shots and played a total of 19:29 including some action on the power play and penalty kill.

Carlson was paired next to Jonas Siegenthaler on the top line and duo was solid as a shutdown pair to protect both Braden Holtby and Pheonix Copley, each facing a combined 22 shots including just five in the second half when Holtby was in the game.

Pheonix Copley

Pheonix Copley needed a game like Wednesday night for the competition of backup goalie. With two young kids in Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov chomping at the bit for a taste of NHL action, Copley wants to prove he truly belongs here as a backup after the season he had last year.

Copley had to face 17 of those 22 shots Chicago put up. He stopped each and every one of them including four shots on the power play. When Holtby was in, there wasn’t a single shot on the power play with a defense that stood tall the whole way through.