The Capitals are shaking things up as they look to spark their 5-on-5 scoring.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — After a day off, the Washington Capitals got back to work with a busy practice, where they practiced the basics and saw a shakeup on the top-6.
Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome, whose chemistry has dropped off of late following Ovechkin's injury, were separated. Ovechkin went to work with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Aliaksei Protas, while Strome skated with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.
Coach Spencer Carbery is trying to spark some kind of offense with new combinations, as the team has been struggling to get much going at 5-on-5 amid recent struggles.
The bottom-6 lines remained the same, as Ethen Frank, who has points in each of his first two NHL games, stays in the lineup operating on the third line with Taylor Raddysh and Lars Eller. Andrew Mangiapane remains with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime.
Washington's sticking with the same defensive pairings, with Rasmus Sandin sticking with John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun operating with Trevor van Riemsdyk while Martin Fehervary and Matt Roy make up a shutdown defensive pairing.
In goal, Logan Thompson and Hunter Shepard worked in both nets, with Charlie Lindgren not skating as he recovers from an upper-body injury he suffered in Friday's loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Lindgren remains on the IR, but Carbery said he’s progressing well and they will see if he can be activated Saturday.
Sonny Milano skated before practice but did not stay on to skate with the team. He remains in a non-contact jersey and is still "a ways away" from playing, per Carbery's latest update.
Here are the latest combinations:
Alex Ovechkin-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Taylor Raddysh-Lars Eller-Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Andrew Mangiapane
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Hunter Shepard
