Two days after suffering their third loss in four games, the Washington Capitals are making more big changes to their lineup.
Head coach Spencer Carbery tinkered with all of the team’s defense pairings during Monday’s practice to try and find some much-needed chemistry on the backend.
Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir reported the lines and pairings on X.
Ovechkin-Strome-Phillips
McMichael-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Milano-Backstrom-Wilson
Malenstyn-Protas-Mantha
Fehervary-Carlson
Sandin-TvR
Alexeyev-Jensen
Haman Aktell-Johansen
The most notable news comes as John Carlson has been split up from young star Rasmus Sandin for the first time this season, instead being paired Martin Fehervary.
The Sandin-Carlson duo has been the Capitals’ most consistent and dependable pairing early this season. In 51:30 of ice time at five-on-five together, the Capitals have out-attempted (57 to 53) and out-chanced (31 to 25) their opponents with Sandin-Carlson on the ice. The Sandin-Carlson pairing has also generated a 53.8 expected goals percentage — though in reality it’s been a wash. The Capitals have scored twice and seen opponents score twice with them at five-on-five.
Sandin’s demotion comes as he was overwhelmed by Cole Caufield in overtime, giving up too much of a gap to the young Canadiens’ star and allowing to snipe a shot past Darcy Kuemper.
Carlson was previously paired with Fehervary for 30 games last season. In 181:07 of five-on-five minutes together, the Capitals struggled mightily, posting a 42.0 shot-attempts percentage, 41.5 scoring-chances percentage, and 39.7 high-danger chances percentage. Though their early returns together this season have been much more positive.
The same can be said about a Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk pairing. The two have generated the highest expected goals percentage (54.1) at five-on-five of any pairing four games into the season.
Young defenseman Alex Alexeyev appears likely to get another game and will take the ice with Nick Jensen, who has been demoted to the third pairing. Jensen has been the Capitals’ worst regular rearguard, being out-attempted (73-41), out-chanced (32-16), and out-high-danger’d (13-5). The Capitals have been scored on three times at 5v5 and only scored once with Jensen on the ice.
After making his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens, Hardy Häman Aktell will likely come out of the lineup joining Lucas Johansen as a healthy scratch.
Nic Dowd and Charlie Lindgren both missed the skate as the two players continue to rehab injuries.
The Capitals will take on Spencer Carbery’s former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. Carbery served as an assistant coach for two seasons with the Leafs before becoming the Capitals’ new bench boss.
The Capitals will need to be stout defensively as Leafs have one of the most electrifying offenses in the NHL featuring Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
