#washington-capitals

#washington-capitals

Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was manning the team's second line with wingers Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, left the ice at Madison Square Garden late in the third period. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery did not have much of an update on Dubois' status postgame. "Yeah, we'll evaluate him and see where he's at," Carbery said. "Left the game and did not return."

Right this way to your Caps-Bruins season opening open thread... The 2025-26 season is upon us at last! The Caps kick off their 51st campaign at the new-look Capital One Arena, playing host to a team they got pretty familiar with in the preseason in the Boston Bruins. First, some admin stuff: Based on recent practices, here's what we're likely to see from tonight's lines and defensive pairs, with Logan Thompson protecting the net:

The Washington Capitals open the 2025-26 NHL season on home ice against the Boston Bruins, Wednesday night. The team enters the season off the back of a 111-point 2024-25 campaign that saw them finish atop the Eastern Conference. After winning their first playoff series since their 2018 Stanley Cup victory, the Capitals were then eliminated in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes in just five games.

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Milano will sit out as a healthy scratch to begin the year despite being red hot during the preseason, recording six points (4g, 2a) in just three games. The 29-year-old winger came into this fall's training camp without being assured a spot on the club's final roster, having played in just three games last year. The veteran forward is an unrestricted free agent next summer, so he'll be looking to force his way into more games and earn another NHL contract. Milano is the lone extra forward on the Capitals' roster to begin the season, as the team will once again carry two extra defensemen.

The two veteran defensemen suffered injuries - Roy an upper-body injury and McIlrath a lower-body injury - against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the Capitals' preseason finale on Saturday night. Neither player was able to finish the game, leaving the Caps with just four defenders for the final 10 minutes and 36 seconds of the third period. Neither Matt Roy (upper-body) nor Dylan McIlrath (lower-body) are practicing this morning. Both sustained injuries against the Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The Caps make their final waiver moves before rosters are due this evening, top waiver wire targets available and more in today's clips. Your savory breakfast links: The Washington Capitals placed goalie Clay Stevenson and forward Ethen Frank on waivers yesterday. [PuckPedia, WaPo, THN, RMNB] The Caps' waiver choices yesterday do send a message about the team's final roster, due today at 5 PM. [RMNB]

Stevenson, 23, made his NHL debut in the Capitals' final 2024-25 regular-season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He spent the vast majority of the season in the AHL with the Bears, posting an 18-8-4 record with a 2.94 goals-against average, an .888 save percentage, and two shutouts in 33 appearances. The Alberta native is set to become Hershey's number-one goaltender this season if he does clear waivers.

We got our first look at the full top unit of the Capitals' power play for the first time this fall, and I thought they created a few good looks. Alex Ovechkin looks set to play the full two minutes of every man-advantage again this year, which I'm still not too sure about. It feels like, at least to me, that opposing penalty kills would need to adapt on the fly more

The 25-year-old defenseman was placed on NHL waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday after failing to make the rebuilding squad's team out of camp. Alexeyev signed a one-year deal with the Penguins in July after the Capitals declined to extend him a qualifying offer. Per the Penguins, Alexeyev was one of 10 cuts on Saturday, which saw four players assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, five placed on waivers, and another released from their PTO.

Over parts of nine seasons in the NHL, Konopka played 346 games for seven teams. He is the most recent player in league history to record more than 300 penalty minutes in a season, doing so in 2010-11 while with the New York Islanders. Konopka also played a total of 303 games in the AHL and was recently named part of the Syracuse Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025 for his contributions to the Syracuse Crunch.

"Honestly, I think it started like last year," Cristall said. "I think Willy just like, I had some good flow going last year and Willy called me that one time and kind of stuck on with him."