Alexander Ovechkin has not scored points for two games in a row. Ovechkin entered the game against Columbus with his usual partners, but this did not help him distinguish himself. But Ivan Miroshnichenko showed himself again.

The young Russian now definitely deserves to start the season in the starting lineup.

Last match of training camp

Having returned to the Washington lineup after an injury, Alexander Ovechkin did not score any effective points in the match against Boston. At the same time, Ovechkin made only one shot on target. However, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery noted that the team captain first needed to get game practice.

The Russian started the meeting on the same line with young players – Ivan Miroshnichenko and Ryan Leonard. And in general, Washington’s lineup for that match looked experimental. But for the last exhibition game against Columbus, Carbery made up an almost optimal application.

Dylan Strome and Alexei Protas, with whom he spent most of last season, returned to Ovechkin’s first line. Carbury also decided to create a rather interesting and young attacking trio – Leonard – Lapierre – Miroshnichenko.

The experiment bore fruit already in the second period. Miroshnichenko and Leonard helped defender Declan Chisholm score, who opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Ryan once again convinced that he was ready to start the season as a starter. But there was no such confidence about the Russian.

However, Ivan showed good performance in the preseason, scoring 3 points (1+2) in five matches, and clearly deserved to start the regular season with Washington. Moreover, Carbery was pleased with the young team.

— I really liked the trio of Miroshnichenko, Leonard and Hendrix Lapierre. This is a young team. Lapierre is only 23 years old, but he looked like a veteran. “They did everything right,” said the head coach of Washington.

Ivan Miroshnichenko / Photo: © Jason Mowry / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Soon, Washington increased the lead through the efforts of Pierre-Luc Dubois. In the third period, Columbus regained one goal, but the guests did not have enough time for more.

As for Ovechkin, the Washington captain spent a little more than 14 minutes on the ice, made four shots on target and again did not score any effective points. However, Alexander doesn’t need to be spectacular in exhibition matches, the main thing is to score points from the start of the regular season. The Capitals will play their first official match on October 8 against Boston.

Washington’s head coach is optimistic about the upcoming season.

“It was a productive training camp, and the games gave us a good opportunity to assess the situation. In addition, we had some difficulties due to injuries: some guys, for example, Ovechkin, were not able to take part in the required number of matches.

This affected who played who and how the lines interacted. However, I’m happy with how the camp went,” Carbery said.