Development Camp: Day 3

Forty-six Caps prospects and free-agent invitees assembled again at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Wednesday for day three of Washington Capitals Development Camp.  The morning was slow, with both groups being put through conditioning tests, but the afternoon saw the first scrimmage of the camp take place.

First thing in the morning, however, at around 8:15, all four goalies at camp hit the ice with goaltending coach Dave Prior, associate goaltending coach Olaf Kolzig, and several other coaches for a private session.  The coaching staff put Steffen Soberg, Philipp Grubauer, Brandon Anderson, and Jacob Gervais-Chouinard through a series of drills involving clearing, positioning, and recovery over the hour-long skate.

During the full-length Red (Group B) vs. White (Group A) scrimmage, Andrew Cherniwchan scored for the White late in the first period to tie after Caleb Herbert had opened the scoring midway through the first. In the second period, Russian Stan Galiev scored after missing a wide open net early in the period, cashing on on a nice pass by 2011 draftee Travis Boyd.  Boyd then put the red team up 3-1 early in the third before Aaron Schmit tapped in a loose puck behind Steffen Soberg to make it 4-1 halfway through the frame.  The White team got one back with about four minutes left as Garrett Mitchell scored on a nice pass from Cherniwchan and Cody Eakin.

Eakin and Orlov played very well again during the scrimmage. Eakin was battling in the corners consistently throughout the game while Orlov's positioning was sound and he did not make any huge mistakes spare one, but Danick Paquette could not convert on the chance.  One note on Orlov, however: he seems to go for the big hit far too often.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made several nice saves in his 30 minutes of playing time, particularly with his legs, and showed good lateral movement. Russian Stan Galiev, who is in the best physical shape having ended his season about a month ago, seemed to handle himself much better today than he had in the first two days.  He is figuring it out.

Travis Boyd impressed as well, tallying a goal and an assist.  This past year's sixth-round draft selection (177th overall) definitely made an impression and he, too, utilized a good motor and attitude to get things done both in open ice and along the boards.

New-to-the-organization Swedish center Mattias Sjogren had a great scrimmage, particularly on faceoffs and in terms of positioning..  He, too, used his speed well and looked like what he is: a man among boys at a camp like this.  It will be tough to evaluate Sjogren fully until training camp in the fall, where he plays against the actual team.

It was a good day at Kettler.  More to come later.