At the end of a long training camp the Capitals are ready for the real games to finally begin. But they will spend practice this week trying to forget all about a shaky preseason finale.
It was an uninspiring effort for the Caps on Sunday afternoon against the Nashville Predators, a 3-0 loss at Verizon Center. Joel Ward scored twice for the Predators and goalie Pekka Rinne stopped all 22 Washington shots to secure the shutout.
The Caps, who finished the preseason 5-1 overall, open the regular season on Friday night against Southeast Division rival Atlanta. But they weren’t quite ready to compete against a Nashville team that used most of its top players, including Rinne and star defensemen Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.
“It’s a little bit frustrating for us because while our [preseason] record was pretty good, I don’t think we played great all the time,” Caps forward Mike Knuble said. “It’s a sour note to end the preseason on … Today we just went out there and hoped a little bit.”
The Caps have a day off Monday and then three practices to prepare for the Thrashers. Michal Neuvirth, who started in goal in both Friday and Sunday’s games, played half the game against Nashville. He stopped all 13 shots he faced and is likely to start against Atlanta on Friday.
“I’m pretty excited about getting that start,” Neuvirth said. “But anything can happen. It’s still a long way until Friday. I’m just going to keep working hard in practice and hopefully I’ll be as sharp as today.”
