The Washington Capitals (4-1) fell to the Boston Bruins 3-1 in their fifth preseason contest. It’s the first loss for
The Washington Capitals (4-1) fell to the Boston Bruins 3-1 in their fifth preseason contest. It’s the first loss for the Capitals in the 2025-26 preseason. Here are five takeaways.
Five Takeaways from the Capitals’ Preseason Loss vs. Bruins
Capitals and Bruins Split Preseason Series
The Capitals faced the Bruins a second time in the 2025-26 preseason on Thursday night. Their first meeting was at TD Garden back on Sunday, Sept. 21. Washington won that meeting by the score of 5-2.
However, the second meeting at Capital One Arena was a much different story. Despite more experienced NHL players like Alex Ovechkin taking the ice this time, Boston got the advantage in the end. The Capitals led 16-5 in shots on goal in the first period, but things started to slow down after that.
Brett Harrison ended up scoring two goals, including an empty-netter to seal it. Goalie Joonas Korpsalo was dominant between the pipes, as he stopped 33 of 34 shots. The two teams will meet again in their regular season opener on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
Ovechkin and Fehervary Make Preseason Debuts
Speaking of Ovechkin, he made his official preseason debut after missing most of training camp with a lower-body injury. The Great 8 played on the top line alongside Ilya Protas and Ivan Miroshnichenko. He used his time on the ice to help his teammates while saving his goal-scoring abilities for the regular season. In the end, Ovechkin finished with 21:07 of ice time.
Martin Fehervary also made his 2025-26 preseason debut for Washington. The blueliner has been recovering from knee surgery that kept him out of last year’s playoffs. Fehervary made some big hits, finishing with a team-high five. He skated 19:40 and was on the ice for all three of the Bruins’ goals.
Ryan Leonard Shows Up Once Again
The youngster Ryan Leonard has been having himself an eventful preseason. The 20-year-old scored the lone goal for the Caps in this contest. In the opening period, Jakob Chychrun found Leonard right in front of the net as Washington led 1-0. This was Leonard’s third goal of the preseason, as he was once again all over the ice.
“Just holding on to pucks a little bit,” said Leonard. “I felt like at the end of last year, I was rushing a little bit. I’ve been slowing it down a little bit and trusting myself a little bit more to make some of those plays that I know I’m capable of making.”
Capitals’ Power Play Unsuccessful
The Capitals had multiple opportunities to score on the man advantage. However, they went 0-for-4 on power play opportunities. Additionally, Washington had many chances to score multiple goals, but were unsuccessful.
Charlie Lindgren Tries His Best
Finally, Charlie Lindgren was Washington’s goaltender on Thursday night. He made 25 saves, but gave up two costly goals. The first tally was the result of Lindgren handling the puck, but with Boston’s Riley Tufte poking the puck through Lindgren’s legs. This Bruins goal was the equalizer in the middle frame.
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