The Washington Capitals continued training camp on Tuesday.
It’s hot outside throughout the DMV but we can feel the coldness of the ice as we await the return of Washington Capitals hockey to our TV screens. In the meantime, they continue to gear up for the Round Robin and held another two practice sessions on Tuesday.
Todd Reirden announced the opponent of the exhibition game before the Round Robin which will be the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes will play the New York Rangers in the Qualifying Round. Other than that here’s the news from day two of training camp.
Michal Kempny is back
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Michal Kempny returned to the ice after missing practice on Monday. Shane Gersich didn’t skate and neither did Ilya Samsonov and Alex Alexeyev. Kempny skated with the second group with paired with Nick Jensen while in rotation with Tyler Lewington.
Carl Hagelin and Lars Eller both in unique situations
Lars Eller and Carl Hagelin met with the media after practice and revealed they are each expecting kids soon. Eller’s is due in early August while Hagelin is expecting his kid in September. Both players are making plans to be there for their birth. It will make things complicated when it comes to re-entering the bubble.
There are protocols for this, but players are allowed to leave and re-enter the bubble for situations such as the birth of their kids. Eller’s kid is due on August 8th which means he’s likely going to miss that final Round Robin game.
Hagelin talked more about his situation.
“For me, I spoke to my wife too and she said as long as you come back when the kid is born, you’re welcome to leave,” said Hagelin.
Lines
Here are the lines from both practices.
Session 1
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Maillet-Backstrom-Hathaway
Hagelin-Eller-Pinho
Siegenthaler-Carlson
Dillon-Orlov
Holtby and Copley
Session 2
Vrana-Boyd-Oshie
Panik-Dowd-Kovalchuk
Malenstyn-McMichael-Sprong/Pilon
Fehervary-Gudas
Kempny/Lewington-Jensen
Vanecek and Leonhardt
In other news besides the lines, Alex Ovechkin practiced his shots from the office and as you can see from the video below, the captain’s still got it.
Alex Ovechkin from his office, yup, still got it. pic.twitter.com/rn0FctDtNS
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) July 14, 2020
Besides Eller and Hagelin, Brenden Dillon also spoke to the media. He is a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) and will be due for a new contract but he’s enjoyed his fit so far with the Caps.
“Mutual talks amongst my agents and Brian are confidential with them, for me as a player, and being part of the Caps it’s been awesome, and hopefully can be here,” said Dillon.
The Caps will practice again tomorrow at 10:40 a.m. with Group Red and 1:10 with Group Blue.