The Washington Capitals took a quick flight up to Columbus for a one-game Metropolitan Division road trip against the Blue Jackets. They’ll do so with a pretty interesting shakeup in their forward lines mainly due to Nic Dowd not traveling with the team.
That shakeup will see Anthony Mantha skate as the fourth line’s left wing. It’s an interesting move for a player that was originally acquired more for his offensive abilities but has shown to be a reliable two-way forward.
Here is how the full lineup from the team’s morning skate looks via the Washington Post’s Samantha Pell.
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Sheary
Milano-Strome-Oshie
Johansson-Eller-NAK
Mantha-Protas-Hathaway
Gustafsson-TVR
Orlov-Jensen
Fehervary-Alexeyev
Dowd’s absence due to the birth of his second child will force Aliaksei Protas to the center of the ice on the fourth line. That opens up the left-wing spot on the team’s crucial, main checking trio which head coach Peter Laviolette has filled with Anthony Mantha. Mantha has tremendous results playing with Protas this season at five-on-five in over 90 minutes of ice time but the vast majority of that has come with both players on the wing.
The Caps have seen 57.1-percent of the shot attempts, 56-percent of the expected goals, 52.1-percent of the scoring chances, and 70.8-percent of the high-danger chances with those two on the ice in those minutes. Comparatively, Mantha has shared the ice with Garnet Hathaway at five-on-five for just seven and a half minutes this season.
The other main change to the squad is Alexander Alexeyev stepping in for his ninth NHL game in place of Matt Irwin on the third defense pairing. Alexeyev will skate with Martin Fehervary for the very first time at the NHL level but should be comfortable with his new partner due to their shared time in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.
Business trip to Columbus#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/66zZu2SNik
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 4, 2023
Pell also reports that Darcy Kuemper was the first goaltender off of the ice at the skate. That means Kuemper will get an immediate chance to bounce back after giving up five goals in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
Columbus will come into play at the very bottom of the Metro. They have won just two of their last 10 games and are currently the second-worst team in the entire league in terms of accumulated standings points. Only the lowly Chicago Blackhawks with their 20 points have less than Columbus’ 24.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
