Boyd, Herbert Impress in First Capitals Development Camp Scrimmage

The Washington Capitals held the first scrimmage of Development Camp on Wednesday afternoon. Travis Boyd led group B to the 4-2 victory with the game-winning goal and an assist.

“I’m just looking to show to [the coaches] that I belong out here,” said Boyd when he spoke to the media prior to the scrimmage. “[I want to show them] that I’m able to play with these guys…There’s a lot of good players out here.”

The 17 year old forward was drafted in the sixth round (177^th overall) in this year’s NHL entry draft by the Capitals and is set to attend the University of Minnesota in the fall.

His first point came on a goal from Stanislav Galiev. Boyd worked hard in the corner with the puck and fed Galiev right in front of the net for group B’s second goal of the game. He later scored when he redirected a shot by Reid Edmondson for what would ultimately be the game-deciding goal.

Caleb Herbert, drafted by the team in the fifth round (142^nd overall) in 2010, also impressed in the scrimmage. He scored the first goal of the game on a scramble in front of the net off a faceoff. He found holes and created a few more chances in the third period as well.

Andrew Cherniwchan added a goal and an assist in a losing effort for group A. His goal came after Pat Mullane drove hard to the net and fed Cherniwchan, who skated around goaltender Brandon Anderson and backhanded it into the empty net. He would assist on Garrett Mitchell’s late third period goal as well.

Most eyes were on Cody Eakin, Dmitry Orlov and Mattias Sjogren. Of the three, Sjogren looked the strongest. Playing tough along the boards and coming away with the puck more times than not. He was good in the faceoff dot as well, using his strength to knock Cody Eakin off the puck a few times.

Eakin, who was skating for group A, started off a bit slow but started to show off his dazzling skills later in the game. At one point he deftly handled the puck through almost the entire opposing team to get off a good shot on net.

“[I felt a] little rusty,” said Eakin after the scrimmage. “I took a period and a little bit to get back into it, but by the third I felt I was going pretty well – skating hard and creating opportunities. We had some good chances as a line.”

Orlov started off strong, but began to find himself out of position later in the game as he played a little too aggressive in trying to join the offensive play. He saw the ice well when he controlled the puck though, making a number of solid passes.

The highlight for many of the fans came in the third period when Garrett Ross and Dustin Stevenson dropped the gloves after group B scored their fourth goal of the game. Both got some good shots in during the bout before the referees broke it up.

There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings after the fight though. The two realized they had switched up their gloves when they went to sit in the penalty box and then proceeded to exchange the gloves by throwing them over the glass dividers to one another, causing a few laughs in the crowd.

“They played hard,” said Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau. “There was a lot more physical contact than in the last two development camps, at least early on for the first game.”

The two groups play in another scrimmage on Thursday and close out the camp with their final game Saturday morning as part of the Capitals Fan Fest.

Additional Notes

-  Wade Epp, a free agent invitee to camp, went down awkwardly into the boards in the second period of the scrimmage. He was helped to his skates by the training staff and skated off the ice under his own power but did not return.

-  During the day, the Capitals announced they had re-signed center Mathieu Perreault to a one year, two-way contract. He split time between Hershey and Washington last season and is, according to coach Boudreau, in the mix for one of the final roster spots along with Cody Eakin, Mattias Sjogren and the recently signed Christian Hanson.