Washington Capitals: Team Red downs Team Blue in intrasquad scrimmage

Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Washington Capitals held an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday.

The Washington Capitals held their third intrasquad scrimmage Friday afternoon at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in what was possibly the final time on the ice in their headquarters before the team departs for Toronto on Sunday. Team Red upset Team Blue 2-1.

Team Blue consisted of a varsity lineup while the Red team was filled with players hoping to crack the playoff lineup. The first period consisted of a 20 minute period while the second and third periods were each 10 minutes.

Team Red struck first late in the opening period. Brian Pinho had a nice finish at the net off a give n go with Daniel Sprong. The goal came at 2:09 left and was redemption from an offsides call just a few minutes prior. The goal came on the power play.

That wasn’t all the scoring from Team Red in the first period. Garnet Hathaway had a solid drive to the net to beat Vitek Vanecek and put the Red team up 2-0 with 57 seconds to go.

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Team Red’s lineup consisted of mostly Hershey Bears players but the one thing they did have that gave Team Blue fits was Braden Holtby in goal. He made a huge glove save here stopping a shot from T.J. Oshie with just over six minutes to go to keep them off the scoresheet. Holtby would later make a left pad save to help kill off a power play. 2-0 was the same score entering the final period.

Team Blue would finally get on the board with 35 seconds left in the third period with Travis Boyd deflecting in a shot from Alex Ovechkin. It helped start a comeback but it would turn out to be too late as the Red team held on for a 2-1 win.

Holtby was named MVP of the scrimmage for his performance in goal and if he plays the way he did on Friday he should be ready to go for the playoffs.

Ovechkin didn’t just nearly have a goal, he also took over DJ duties in between periods.

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Holtby spoke to the media after the scrimmage and thought it was “a little bit better” than the previous two scrimmages. He also strongly believes that the team is getting better each day and will be in good shape come playoff time when the team heads to Toronto.

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They’ll depart for the six on Sunday and will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game on Wednesday.