Tuesday night’s preseason game between the Bruins and Capitals was not played at Washington’s Verizon Center, but rather in Baltimore, at 51-year-old 1st Mariner Arena. The venue does not usually play host to hockey games — the most recent was a Capitals preseason game in 2011 — and that fact was evident throughout the contest.
Multiple players complained about shoddy ice conditions, and the game was delayed for several minutes after a pane of plexiglass in one of the rink’s corners became dislodged and fell onto the playing surface. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin was battling for the puck in the corner with Bruins prospect Chris Casto at the time, but neither went into the boards particularly hard.
“I just try to get the hit and I miss it,” Ovechkin said after the game, according to CSNWashington.com. “I hit the glass and it just crashes. I don’t know if I’m too strong or glass not that strong.”
“Watching the replay, that was very scary,” Capitals coach Adam Oates said. “I think that’s what happens when you don’t play in a building for a while. But it didn’t happen again, so good for that.”
Check out the full highlights from the game, which the Bruins won 3-2 in a shootout, in the video below. The play in question takes place around the 1:00 mark.
