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Kevin McCarthy will be head coach of the Capitals against Lightning with Peter Laviolette in protocol due to COVID-19

By Chris Cerullo

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November 11, 2022 10:50 am

The Capitals announced Friday morning that head coach Peter Laviolette has entered the NHL’s COVID protocol and as a result will not coach in the team’s next two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Assistant coach Kevin McCarthy will take the reins behind the bench. McCarthy has been an assistant or associate coach in the league for 27 years.

Laviolette joins a slew of his players as unavailable to take on the Lightning as it appears not even the coaching staff has been spared the recent exodus from the Capitals lineup.

In his stead, McCarthy is more than qualified given the vast amount of experience he has earned as an assistant, especially on Laviolette-led teams. However, the last time he was fully in charge of a professional hockey team came during the 1998-99 AHL season with the New Haven Beast.

“We’re keeping it as normal as we can,” McCarthy said Friday. “I’ll be working with the D, [Blaine Forsythe] will be working with the forwards as far as changing. We just want to keep it as simple as we can for the players, keep the routines the same just like we did this morning.”

This is the first COVID-related absence the Caps have experienced this season after they, like every NHL team, went through several last season. The Pittsburgh Penguins were in an identical predicament almost exactly one year ago when their head coach Mike Sullivan could not coach due to COVID.

Former Caps bench boss Todd Reirden took the reins for the Pens in that case.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB

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