Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the NHL preseason match.
Both clubs have already played their first preseason matches, and both left the rink defeated in front of their home fans.
Boston Bruins
While the Boston Bruins are trying to save on Jeremy Swayman and have already traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators, their first preseason match saw two virtually inexperienced NHL goaltenders in net: Brandon Bussi and Michael DiPietro (who has only three games for the Vancouver Canucks). And no, he's not related to Rick DiPietro. Overall, the Bruins’ lineup against the New York Rangers (2:3) didn’t look very NHL-like. They primarily tested young and inexperienced players. They held their own for two periods but fell silent in the final period (only four shots) and conceded the decisive third goal five minutes into the period from Alex Belzile. He may be unknown to the public, but his assist came from Filip Chytil, who has over 300 NHL games but spent most of last season recovering from injuries (10 games, 0+6).
Washington Capitals
The Capitals are wrapping up their preparation for the new season without their captain Alexander Ovechkin, for whom games like these aren't beneficial at his age. In his absence, along with the absence of other leaders like Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson, and T.J. Oshie, the team lost 2-6 to the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena. The Flyers have seen little change this offseason, Jakub Vrana stood out, returning to the club where he began his career after three years. The Czech forward had six shots but didn’t score. However, Andrew Cristall, yet to make his NHL debut, and Ivan Miroshnichenko, who played his first 22 league games last season, did find the net.
Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals Prediction
Both teams are playing with inexperienced goaltenders who concede a fair number of goals. If the coaches stick with similar lineups, the Capitals will have a slight advantage. In any case, we can expect more goals than usual.
