Spencer Carbery shortened his bench with the Washington Capitals trailing in a pivotal Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The second-year bench boss went with essentially five defensemen for much of the night.
Third-pairing defender Alex Alexeyev skated only 5:48 of ice time in the Capitals’ 5-2 loss. The Russian rearguard didn’t see the ice in the third period at all, and his last shift came with 5:42 remaining in the second.
Alexeyev was on the ice for Shayne Gostisbehere’s first-period goal that gave Carolina a 1-0 lead, and saw only five shifts after that.
Alexeyev, who played in only eight games during the regular season, was called into full-time action in the playoffs due to Martin Fehervary’s season-ending knee injury.
The 25-year-old, former first-round pick has had some impressive moments skating with Trevor van Riemsdyk, including playing through a high-stick where he lost three of his top teeth. But his numbers overall in the postseason have otherwise not been optimal.
With Alexeyev on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals own only 30.8 percent of the shot attempts, 37.9 percent of the expected goals, 31.1 percent of the scoring chances, and 38.0 percent of the high-danger chances. One positive is that while the Capitals have been stuck in their own zone with Alexeyev on the ice, they’ve only been outscored 2-0 during his 37:55 time on ice.
Carbery has not tinkered with his starting six defensemen in the playoffs, keeping Hershey Bears callup Ethan Bear and Dylan McIlrath in reserve.
If aggressive changes were to happen, Carbery could look to his scratches with the team down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and facing elimination on Thursday.
