The Washington Capitals got on the ice for their second practice this week on Friday before traveling up to Montreal to meet the Canadiens on Saturday. The Capitals have lost eight of their 10 games and one of those losses, a 5-2 decision, came to the Canadiens earlier this month.
With Sonny Milano on the way back from injury, head coach Spencer Carbery has been forced to tweak his lines a bit ahead of the team’s trip up north. Milano appears to be set for action for the first time since December 10 on the Capitals’ third line with Max Pacioretty and Mike Sgarbossa.
Here’s how his jump back into the fray looks, via Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir.
Milano has never skated on a line with either Pacioretty or Sgarbossa in the NHL but he spent some time with the latter in the AHL during his short stint with the Hershey Bears at the beginning of last season. Carbery reiterated on Friday that Milano is on track to play against Montreal and spoke about what he can add to the team.
“Speed, skill, ability to help us offensively, make a few plays, whether that’s individually or part of a line,” Carbery said. “He’s had some good stretches this year. He’s missed a lot of time, so can’t expect him to come in and all of a sudden just return to mid-season form. It’s probably going to take a little bit. But, good to have him back in the mix.”
Sgarbossa has gotten into the team’s last five games after his recent recall from the Bears. While he has just one assist, the Capitals have dominated play when he’s on the ice at five-on-five. In just under 51 minutes of ice time, the team has seen 64.1 percent of the shot attempts, 61.6 percent of the expected goals, 57.4 percent of the scoring chances, and 71.8 percent of the high-danger chances with Sgarbossa over the boards.
The AHL’s leading assist man has provided a nice spark down the middle for the Capitals after his reunion with his former Hershey bench boss. Carbery hopes that the trio will fit well together with complementary styles of play.
“I’ve liked Sgarbossa’s games while he’s been here,” Carbery said. “He gives us some speed down the middle and he can make a few plays. “I feel like that, combined with potentially Sonny’s got a little bit of speed to his game: he can make a play, he can get out of pressure, and then Patch being more of our shooter but a guy that’s heavy on pucks. We’ll see what we’ve got there.”
Milano’s return has also forced Nicolas Aube-Kubel out of the lineup. Tom Wilson occupied NAK’s usual spot on the team’s fourth line against the Colorado Avalanche and it appears that he stick in that spot against Montreal as well.
That checking line received the tough assignment of man-marking Nathan MacKinnon’s line on Tuesday and did so with some success. They won the five-on-five goal matchup 1-0 and the high-danger chances with both trios on the ice ended pretty close, 4-3 in favor of MacKinnon’s group.
The only other lineup change sees Trevor van Riemsdyk sliding back in on the third defense pairing in favor of Ethan Bear. TVR had been ill for a few days earlier in the week, which kept him out of consideration for several games, but he now appears ready to rejoin the lineup. His last game came against the Canadiens on February 6.
