3 The prospect of Washington Capitals highlights 5-2 preseason defeats the Brown Bears – Hockey Writer – Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals soared to 5-2 on Sunday in their first preseason game at TD Garden’s Boston Bruins. While there isn’t much room for newcomers in the 2025 Capitals lineup, players may push the bottom six characters to start the season and/or position themselves as a name that relies on minor league injured recalls. With this thought process in mind, here are three Capitals players who were impressed with their victory over Boston last weekend.
Center Hendrix Lapierre
Despite Sonny Milano’s four-point effort earned a lot of praise after Washington’s victory, center Hendrix Lapierre excelled with one goal and two assists while skating forward’s best 16:15 ice time, skating with Milano and Anthony Beauvillier. This is an important show for a 23-year-old forward pushing the roster.
“I don’t have a lot of experience with Pro Hockey, but I’ve learned that I’ve made mistakes,” Lapierre said on September 19. “In all of this, you can figure out what this requires [to stick in the NHL]. When you arrive at the camp, this is your fourth or fifth camp, which feels different from your first or second battalion. Last year, my camp wasn’t good enough. So this year, I can come in and focus on working hard and show everyone how bad I want. transparent
Related: Hendrix Lapierre is the capital forward to watch
Since the 2022-23 regular season, Lapierre has competed in 150 professional games in the American Hockey League (AHL). He scored 79 points in 113 regular season games, averaging 0.69 points (P/G). In the playoffs, he amassed 31 points in 48 games, averaging 0.64 p/g as the Bears regained the Calder Cup in 2023 and 2024.
Lapierre has extensive career experience in participating in the 2025-26 sports and should have a great opportunity to find a roster in Spencer Carbery’s roster in 2025 and have a good camp in 2025. Still, he certainly has competition, like Ivan Miroshenko and Andrew Cristall, in the fight for the roster.
Winter Eriks Mateiko
Eriks Matieko didn’t register to score points against the Bruins, but the 19-year-old forward has been on the offense. He finished the game with four shots in 13 minutes of ice time. Matieko felt two turnovers in the opening season showdown and caused two turnovers.
A 6-foot-5 striker may learn the ropes of professional hockey, which is part of the important youth sports held in the AHL for Hershey. Still, even if he doesn’t register to score in the box score, he wants to see the Latvian striker and use his figure to fight professional games.
Defensive player Ryan Chesley
Ryan Chesley scored three shots in a showdown in Boston on Sunday. The young defensive player recorded 20:10 ice time with defensive partner Leon Muggli of the 2024 Washington Draft. In his goal, Chesley started Milano’s breakthrough from the pass behind the goal line, then placed Beauvillier onto the ice and showed Lapierre an open stick to achieve the redirection goal. It’s a drama worth mentioning, showing Chesley’s speed and hockey feel.
While there isn’t much room in the defensive force carrying Jakob Chyrun and John Carlson to start the 2025-26 season, a strong training camp may be important for 21-year-old Blueliner as he positioned himself as an emergency summoning option. The defender entered four AHL games before Hershey transitioned to the third straight cup of his attempt to win the experienced roster.
Chesley arrived in Washington at the University of Minnesota for three seasons. Last season, he scored 20 points in 40 NCAA games as part of the Gophers leadership group, and then scored three points in four professional games to end his 2024-25 campaign.
The capital returned to his hometown on Thursday
Washington returned to the ice Thursday night when the Capitals hosted Philadelphia pilots and held a 7 p.m. p.m. p.m. This will be the second in six preseason games ahead of the 2025-26 NHL regular season.
