The Washington Capitals will look to get back into the win column on Saturday, with another back-to-back slate beginning with the Nashville Predators. The Capitals are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, but have earned points in four straight games. Here are the projected lines.
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Joe Snively – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson – Nick Jensen
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
The Capitals (14-8-4) have swept their last two back-to-back matchups and are 4-0 in the second half of the series. With Washington playing with just three centers, after Evgeny Kuznetsov was deemed a late scratch due to illness, there was an increase in minutes for the three centers.
Matthew Phillips acted as the fourth middleman, but only saw 2:44 of ice time. With the Caps having a back-to-back, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that made Friday’s practice optional to give those guys a reset.
“There’s challenges but there’s also benefits to be able to play quite a bit and get right back at it. We talked a little bit about some of the things that went on from a structure standpoint last night, get refreshed, get them out of here on their way and focus on Nashville first, but then also the back-to-back in Carolina,” Carbery said. “I think guys like to get right back at it and play again and start to feel good about their game and confidence especially when you’re getting results and when you’re scoring a little bit.”
Kuznetsov’s status for Saturday is unclear. Carbery said that he is not quite 100%.
The Caps’ penalty kill went 5-for-5 against the Flyers, killing off a 5-on-3 disadvantage. However, that turned the tide of the hockey game even after the Capitals took a 3-2 lead. Because of the amount of penalties the Capitals took, it forced the coaching staff to throw out some tired bodies.
“The more you rely on certain guys special teams wise and have to keep leaning [on the penalty killers] especially penalty kill minutes because they are so hard and so difficult. And when the game is tight like that five-on-threes, you’re not setting yourself up for success,” Carbery said. “So us trying to stay out of the box and try to keep it to two, three PK’s is ideal for us, [but] in the last two games have not been that.”
Connor McMichael had one of his best games of the campaign. He scored his sixth goal of the season and his line with Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha continues to produce. McMichael has points in three out of his last five and is up to 13 points (six goals, seven assists) on the campaign.
“He had a great training camp, great preseason and has not let off the gas all season long. The majority of the sample size he’s been dangerous. He’s been quick. He’s been making plays in tight areas, setting things up using poise on entries. Just done a lot of positive things,” Carbery said. “Playing in every situation, he didn’t start on the power play but has started to play some power play, penalty kill, and is anchoring that line that’s been real productive for us.”
Scouting Nashville
The Predators (17-13-0) are also in a back-to-back series, coming off a high scoring affair, with a 6-5 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Nashville has won six out of its last eight contests and have won three straight.
Goaltender Juuse Saros has been one of the best goalies during the month of December, going 5-0-0 with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage. He will get the start for Andrew Brunette’s club.
Filip Forsberg is having a breakout campaign for Nashville. Forsberg, who was drafted by the Capitals back in 2012, leads the team with 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists). He had the overtime winner against the Hurricanes to give the Predators the win.
Player to Watch
Carbery spoke highly of Ryan O’Reilly on Friday due to their short time in Toronto last year. O’Reilly had three points (one goal, two assists) against Carolina and is up to 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 30 games.
Puck drop is slated for 8 p.m. EST. The game can be streamed on Monumental Sports Network.
By Jacob Cheris