Late in Thursday’s loss to the Florida Panthers, Washington Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery scrambled his forward lines. Carbery often changes things up when the Capitals need a spark, and on this night, it worked.
Washington couldn’t stage a comeback, but the two third-period goals the Capitals scored came with new-look lines on the ice. Justin Sourdif, who moved up to center Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, scored less than a minute into the period, and Dylan Strome’s line with wingers Anthony Beauvillier and Ryan Leonard helped create Rasmus Sandin’s goal late in the frame.
Carbery said Saturday morning, ahead of Washington’s matchup with the visiting New Jersey Devils, that Leonard’s game Thursday was his best as a professional and Sourdif’s was his best as a Capital. Both will retain their upgraded spots in the lineup to begin Saturday night’s game.
“It’s what players crave a lot, young players,” Carbery said. “‘Just give me an opportunity, Coach. Give me an opportunity to play a game, to play power play, to play top-six. Give me an opportunity.’ It’s my job to give that opportunity when I see fit or I feel like it’s earned, and then their job is to run with that opportunity.”
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New Jersey center Jack Hughes, whom Carbery described as a “handful” Saturday morning, reportedly cut his hand at a team dinner Thursday; he had surgery to repair an injury to a finger, the Devils said, and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Hughes, 24, has 10 goals and 10 assists in 17 games and is one of the most dynamic young talents in the NHL.
Metropolitan Division-leading New Jersey (12-4-1) has many other threats, but one of the Devils’ best players being out of the lineup makes the task of preparing for them just a little bit easier for the Capitals (8-8-1).
“The way that New Jersey plays, that doesn’t change a lot from what we’ll show our group and talk about and make sure they’re aware of,” Carbery said. “But there are individual tendencies that Jack Hughes has that we should show and make sure our players are aware of — not that they need massive amounts of reminders of that. These guys are good enough and have very good memories of what elite, elite players look like and feel like and what they try to do on the ice and why they’re successful. But we always try to show those in our pre-scouts.”
Logan Thompson is expected to be in goal for Washington; it will be his fourth start in a row. Jacob Markstrom is projected to start for the Devils. Markstrom is 2-8-3 with an .892 save percentage in 13 career meetings with Washington.
Devils at Capitals
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Capital One Arena
TV: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: WTEM (980 AM), WFED (1500 AM)
Capitals’ projected lineup
Forwards
Anthony Beauvillier — Dylan Strome — Ryan Leonard
Aliaksei Protas — Justin Sourdif — Tom Wilson
Hendrix Lapierre — Connor McMichael — Alex Ovechkin
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Ethen Frank
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun — Matt Roy
Declan Chisholm — Rasmus Sandin
Goaltenders
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Devils’ projected lineup
Forwards
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Arseny Gritsyuk
Ondrej Palat — Dawson Mercer — Jesper Bratt
Paul Cotter — Cody Glass — Stefan Noesen
Juho Lammikko — Luke Glendening — Nathan Legare
Defensemen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Simon Nemec
Brenden Dillon — Luke Hughes
Dennis Cholowski — Colton White
Goaltenders
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Pregame reading
Capitals follow a painfully familiar script, end trip with loss to Panthers
This NHL rookie is living the dream. That doesn’t mean life is easy.
Logan Thompson and Tom Wilson are making a case that Team Canada can’t ignore
The post Justin Sourdif and Ryan Leonard remain on the rise for the Capitals
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