The Washington Capitals begin their five-game western road trip with a date with the San Jose Sharks. This is the second meeting between these two squads this season. The Capitals took the first contest back on Oct. 29, 3-1.
Here are the projected lines:
Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael – Dylan Strome – Matthew Phillips
Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Nick Jensen
Joel Edmundson – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
This is just the fifth road game of the season for the Caps. Washington (10-5-2) has had two lengthy homestands to begin the campaign and recently had its five-game win streak snapped after an embarrassing 5-0 loss against the Edmonton Oilers to end the four-game home slate.
The Caps are 3-1-1 away from home and their most recent road game was a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders back on Nov. 11.
“I think it’s a good test. We had a long stretch of home games, we had some success, we got some results, and now we get to go out on an extended road trip and play against some real difficult opponents in some hostile environments,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said following Sunday’s practice. “I think as a group, I think our guys embrace that opportunity and not necessarily try to build off what we’ve done at home or carry anything over from that. To be a good team in this league. You got to win road games, and you got to be able to go to the west coast and take points and play well.”
The Capitals will get defenseman Martin Fehervary back in the lineup after he missed the last five games due to a lower-body injury he sustained back on Nov. 10 against the New Jersey Devils. He will be reunited with John Carlson on the top pair.
But while the defense core is fully healthy, the Capitals suffered a big loss up front. T.J. Oshie was injured against Edmonton and did not travel with the team. With Oshie’s absence, it appears that Matthew Phillips will slide back into the lineup on the right side. This comes as a little bit of a surprise considering that Anthony Mantha was starting to find his groove.
“We liked his game a lot in the last San Jose game, going back through the film and he sat a few games now with [Oshie] not being available, [it’s] just a good opportunity, I think to get him back into the lineup,” Carbery said. “Get him into a situation or a role where he can best utilize his skill set. And so that was the thought process there.”
Meanwhile, Hendrix Lapierre will suit up after being a healthy scratch against Edmonton and Connor McMichael will move to the wing.
Lapierre has made his presence felt whenever he is in the lineup. He has found terrific chemistry with Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano. The trio really started to click back on Nov. 18 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had three points (one goal, two assists) and his line combined for eight points (three goals, five assists). But Carbery said that he has the option to move the 21-year-old forward to the wing if he must.
“I just feel like it’s a little bit more comfortable for [Lapierre] to go in the middle with the line that he played with a couple of games ago,” Carbery said. “[McMichael], to me, what he showed at the beginning of the year until we moved him into the middle. Eventually he’s going to be a centerman, we all know that, but his ability to go seamlessly to the wing and still be effective, I feel like is probably our best option and so that’s why we go with that direction.”
Washington’s power play appears like it will get a massive makeover. Carbery said after the loss against the Oilers that everything needs to change. From personnel, structure, execution, it’s time to start from scratch.
“We’re just looking for some adjustments personnel wise and we’ll look for a little bit of a different sort of mindset overall,” Carbery said. “Maybe where you’ve seen some things in the past or last game and different hands, different personnel, different things that we’re looking for. obviously [Alex Ovechkin] being in his spot but seeing if we can try to look at some different options.”
The Capitals have not scored a power play goal in 10 straight games and are 0-for-28 on the man-advantage during that stretch. The last time Washington converted with a man-up was back on Oct. 27 against the Minnesota Wild. It is currently dead last in the NHL at 6%.
Scouting San Jose
The last time these two teams met, the Sharks had zero wins. They started the campaign 0-10-1, but they finally got in the win column against the Philadelphia Flyers. San Jose now has four wins on the season but is dead last in the Pacific Division with just 10 points.
The Sharks are coming off a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks back on Saturday. Tomas Hertl remains the team’s point leader with 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 20 games.
San Jose has allowed 37 shots per game, which is the most in the NHL.
Player to Watch
Sharks forward Mike Hoffman has five goals in his last five games and is currently on a three-game point streak. He had two points (one goal, one assist) against the Canucks back on Saturday.
Puck drop is slated for 10:30 p.m. EST. The game can be streamed on Monumental Sports Network.
By Jacob Cheris
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