Caps’ defensemen stand tall in preseason win over Red Wings originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Darcy Kuemper made his Capitals preseason debut Friday, but the veteran goaltender wasn’t needed much as Washington’s defense blanked the Red Wings in a 2-0 victory on the road.
The Capitals (2-0-1) brought a large traveling party with them to Detroit for the first of a rare preseason back-to-back. In addition to Kuemper, several stars appeared in their first exhibition game of the year including Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson.
It was Carlson who notched the first goal for Washington, benefitting from some strong passing by Kuznetsov and defenseman Lucas Johansen to catch Red Wings goalie Victor Brattstrom on the wrong side of the crease. Center Lars Eller added an empty-netter late to seal it.
Kuemper, who signed a five-year, $26.25 million deal with the Capitals in free agency this offseason, stopped all nine shots he faced in 31:30 of ice time. He did make a pair of impressive saves and emerged unscathed from a Red Wings power play.
Yet the story of the game was Washington’s defense, which limited Detroit to only 19 shots all night. Head coach Peter Laviolette broke up the Capitals’ top blue line pairing of Carlson and Martin Fehervary, lining the former up with Johansen and the latter with Vincent Iorio. Both Johansen and Iorio are hoping to crack Washington’s roster, though spots are limited.
Even after the Capitals switched goaltenders midway through the second period to get Charlie Lindgren in the game, the netminder coasted through the rest of the game with 10 saves.
The Capitals also got their first look at their top power play unit in game action. Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Oshie, Carlson and Dylan Strome were the first players on the ice for each of Washington’s power plays. While they didn’t score in either of their opportunities, the group did generate some strong scoring chances.
After wrapping up in Detroit, the Capitals head to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Blue Jackets in a Metropolitan Division matchup Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET.