The Washington Capitals lost in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday. After taking the Vancouver Canucks, the best team in the NHL to overtime, Connor McMichael made a costly turnover in front of the net with seconds remaining, giving JT Miller a gimme goal and taking away an opportunity for the Capitals to get an extra standings point in the shootout.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that he’d talk to his young center at some point after the game — a blip in what has been an otherwise successful second full season in the NHL.
“Yeah, it was a really brief conversation,” Carbery said on Tuesday after the Capitals’ morning skate. “The one thing I don’t worry about with Mikes, and maybe I would with a different young player, is he knows that play can’t happen. And he’s as upset with himself as any coach, anybody, any fan, anybody could be about the play. I don’t worry about him taking it to heart and being like, ‘eh, no big deal,’ because I know that’s not how he sees it.
“And the other part that you worry about as a coach is the confidence piece. And I have zero concern about that with Mikes. He’s extremely confident in what he’s capable of doing. And so him coming out tonight, or for the next month, and that decision and that play affecting how he plays — I’m not the least bit concerned.”
The 23-year-old forward, fresh off winning a Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears last season, is getting even more opportunity and minutes due to Evgeny Kuznetsov entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program coming out of the team’s bye week. That pivotal overtime shift was an example of that: McMichael was on the ice with Dylan Strome — the team’s top goal-scorer — and John Carlson — the team’s top defenseman. McMichael is playing in all situations including having a major role on the penalty kill where he’s excelling.
The Capitals’ 2019 first-round pick has been key to Anthony Mantha’s resurgence and Aliaksei Protas’s breakout year this season, but lately, his production has slowed. He has just four points in his last 23 games (1g, 3a) after posting 13 (6g, 7a) in his previous 26. Notably, McMichael had a truncated offseason due to Hershey’s championship run.
“It’s more of an extended role,” Carbery said of McMichael’s growing opportunity with Kuznetsov out. “He’ll probably be penalty-killing more. His game has been solid all year. It was better early on, like really good, really good. Now, it’s just been solid which is, for a young player, nothing wrong with that. The challenge for him now in the NHL playing his first full season is to push the envelope. Let’s get our game back to that level. That’s his challenge coming off the break – refreshed, reenergized, and to really push [down the stretch].”
