After a successful season debut on Tuesday, Connor McMichael appears to have retained his spot as the third-line center.
The Washingon Capitals dominated the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 on Tuesday, giving head coach Peter Laviolette no reason to change anything as the team heads out on its first road trip.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
#Caps lines and pairs at Wednesday’s practice:
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Mantha – Eller – Sprong
Sheary – McMichael – Oshie
Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway*Lapierre rotated in on the third line
Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TvR-Schultz
Cholowski-IrwinVanecek
Samsonov— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 20, 2021
“He played a really smart game, a strong game,” Laviolette said of McMichael to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir. “[The third line] controlled a lot of the play out there, possession of the puck and they did some good things. He got better as the game went on, too.”
Laviolette’s comment echoes what McMichael said at practice on Monday about what he was expecting from his first game of the season.
“It’s different from practice for sure, you have to get your mind ready,” McMichael said. “I haven’t played in a week or so, so I’ll use the first period to get back into it and try and get a quick start. Obviously, playing games you’re working pretty hard, just getting extra reps in practice when you’re not playing is pretty important just to stay up to the pace and up to speed.”
McMichael centered Conor Sheary and TJ Oshie against the Avalanche. The trio out-attempted Colorado at five-on-five 12 to 3, had a plus-three scoring chance differential, and a plus-two high danger chance differential. McMichael, individually, had two shots and drew a penalty in 9:45 of ice time, but struggled a tad in the face-off dot (3 of 7).
The third line did not end up factoring onto the scoresheet, but the first line sure did. Evgeny Kuznetsov had a dominant three-point performance (2g, 1a). Alex Ovechkin scored an empty-netter and Tom Wilson tallied three assists. Kuznetsov (2g, 4a), Ovechkin (4g, 2a), and Wilson (0g, 4a) are the Capitals’ top three scorers, combining for 16 points total.
Part of their success is the re-emergence of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was the Capitals’ number-one star, Tuesday.
Wilson on Kuznetsov's hot start: "He's having fun. He's enjoying the game. When I first met him early on in his career, it was just a joy to be at the rink and he was so fun to be around, and I think you're starting to see that again a little bit." #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 20, 2021
Meanwhile, Laviolette is satisfied with the Capitals’ performance on defense, saying he’s not touching any of the pairings headed on the road.
Laviolette says he’s “not going to touch the six” on defense right now.
— JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) October 20, 2021
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
