Tonight, the Washington Capitals are facing elimination for the very first time of the 2018 postseason (wow) and head coach Barry Trotz is not messing around in his top six.
Trotz changed up the lines and his lineup for Game Six.
#Caps morning skate lines ahead of Game 6:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly
Stephenson-Beagle-DSPSo Burakovsky returns after sitting out one game as a healthy scratch.
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 21, 2018
To conclude Game Five, Trotz bumped Nicklas Backstrom up to the first line and the Swedish pivot skated with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Meanwhile Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the team’s only five-on-five goal of the game from the second line. But for Game Six the two centers will go back to their normal lines.
The Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson line is back together while Backstrom will skate between Czech forward Jakub Vrana and TJ Oshie. Vrana has been a game-changer at times during this year’s playoff run. He had a goal and two assists
During Game Five of the second round, Vrana had three points on the night, including the game-winning goal and two assists. He tallied a primary assist on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s game-tying goal and the primary assist on Brett Connolly’s first period goal that gave the Caps a 2-1 lead.
Burakovsky, meanwhile, will jump into the third line with Lars Eller and Brett Connolly. The Swedish forward has struggled with injury throughout the 2017-18 season and has seen his production drop as a result.
Chandler Stephenson, who has been a revelation, will drop down to the Caps’ fourth line with Jay Beagle and Devante Smith-Pelly.
After the morning skate, Trotz warned reporters of his own possible gamesmanship.
More Trotz: “What you saw today (lines at morning skate) probably won’t stay that way…” Interesting.
— Brian McNally (@bmcnally14) May 21, 2018
According to NBC Sports Washington’s Tarik El-Bashir, the Caps were a rather loose bunch this morning.
#Caps sure seemed loose this morning. Lots of chatter during the skate. Afterward, Trotz made some jokes at the podium. Oshie pretended to run out of the dressing room when the media gaggle entered. Kuzy cracked wise during his scrum.
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 21, 2018
Game Six is at 8 PM at Capital One Arena. The Capitals have lost three straight games since winning Games One and Two in Tampa.
