The Capitals returned to MedStar Capitals Iceplex Saturday morning for their game day morning skate following a day off on Friday. They host the Montreal Canadiens tonight at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
LINES AND PAIRS AT MORNING SKATE
Capitals bench boss Peter Laviolette made his first changes to the lines ahead of the third game of the season. Dylan Strome and Evgeny Kuznetsov flipped center positions.
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Connor Brown
Anthony Mantha – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson – Lars Eller – Aliaksei Protas
Conor Sheary- Nic Dowd- Garnet Hathaway
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Additionally, Aliaksei Protas moved to the right side of the third line and Anthony Mantha moved to the left side of the second line. T.J. Oshie moved up to the second line. For comparison, here were the lines from the start of the last game:
Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Connor Brown
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Anthony Mantha
Marcus Johansson – Lars Eller – T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary – Nic Dowd – Garnet Hathaway
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson – Trevor van Riemsdyk
The moves were likely made in an attempt to kickstart the top two lines, which has scored just one goal (Anthony Mantha) in the first two games. More on this and the struggling top six below.
Morning skate is underway. As expected, Snively, Irwin and McMichael were on ice early, likely healthy scratches for tonight. Protas also taking rushes with the 3rd line during initial drills. @NoVa_Caps #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/cuvq9dapIq
— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) October 15, 2022
There were also tweaks to the power play. Dylan Strome moved to the half wall and Marcus Johansson moved to the down low position.
Some tweaks to Capitals PP too with Strome to the half wall in place of Kuznetsov and Johansson down low.
PP1: Carlson (point), Ovechkin(left circle), Oshie (bumper), Strome (half wall), Johansson (goal line)
PP2: Orlov, Gustafsson, Brown, Kuznetsov, Mantha
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 15, 2022
The Capitals and Canadiens meet tonight for the first of three meetings this season. Washington is 77-74-17-6 all-time vs. Montreal and 10-4-1 in their last 15 games against the Canadiens dating back to the 2016-17 season.
STAT WATCH – EXPECTED GOALS DIFFERENTIAL
We spoke at length about the “expected goals” advanced stat in our run-up to the start of the season (refresher here). The stat is helpful for gauging the effectiveness of a player’s ability to generate scoring compared to opposing players on the ice. (For more, check out our NHL Analytics Glossary). Here are the expected goals differentials for all Capitals skaters after two games: [Click to enlarge].
Data via Natural Stat Trick
A lot has been made of the Capitals power play starting the season 0 for 9, but possibly just as big of a concern in the early going is the ineffectiveness of the top six forwards generating even-strength (5-on-5) scoring chances. The top line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Connor Brown has yet to record a point. Something we’ll continue to monitor.
By Jon Sorensen