The Washington Capitals held a 3-1 lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets with 5:02 remaining in the third period on Monday before Luca Del Bel Belluz broke in on a rush chance and brought Columbus within one goal. Del Bel Bulluz found so much open space on the ice due to a breakdown in coverage stemming from Capitals’ forwards leaving the zone before the puck did.
“I didn’t like the goal we gave up in the third period,” Carbery said. “They were cheating a little bit. They were hoping that Vrana was going to chip a puck. Miro and Sgarbs go on the offensive side, and next thing you know, it’s a 3-2 game, building comes alive, and here we go.
“It’s tough. I understand what they’re thinking is they’re trying to read a situation and score a goal because they think that’s going to help them make a hockey team. And as hard as it is mentally, this is the pro maturation in that situation. We don’t need any more goals. We need right reads. We need to be better there.”
Despite the lapse in judgment leading to the goal, the line overall was one of Washington’s better throughout the game. At five-on-five, they were the only line on the team to post positive differentials in scoring chances (+1) and high-danger chances (+1).
Miroshnichenko earned a secondary assist on Pierre Luc-Dubois’s power-play goal and led the Capitals with five individual shot attempts. Vrana also impressed with his speed, creating two breakaway chances and earning some postgame praise from Carbery.
“[His speed] is his biggest asset,” Carbery said. “A couple times tonight, he almost got in. He got the half breakaway on his backhand and got an okay chance on that. That’s probably the most important (part) of his game, is his speed and ability to find space in behind defenders and create offense off it.”
Vrana is at camp on a tryout agreement and does not yet have a contract for the 2024-25 campaign. Meanwhile, Miroshnichenko is still on his entry-level contract and can freely go up and down from Hershey, while Sgarbossa will require waivers to be returned to the AHL.
The three forwards join Hendrix Lapierre, Andrew Cristall, Alex Alexeyev, Ethan Bear, and Dylan McIlrath in the battle to make the team’s final 23-man roster. Washington trimmed their roster to 28 healthy players on Tuesday morning when they returned Terik Parascak, their 2024 first-round draft selection, to the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
The Capitals will stay in Columbus for a few days for some team-building activities. Their next home practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex is scheduled for Friday. They’ll wrap up their preseason against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, and then final roster decisions are due by Monday.
