The Washington Capitals lost two of their regular forwards over their last three games. Both Nic Dowd and TJ Oshie went down with injuries that appear will keep them out of the lineup for multiple games.
With two regulars out, head coach Spencer Carbery has been forced to get creative with his lineup. Thursday night’s contest in Tampa saw Aliaksei Protas moved to center as Dowd’s fill-in and now Friday’s practice has seen a promotion for winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel due to Oshie’s absence.
Aube-Kubel skated on the team’s top line with Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael during the skate. Carbery was asked about that decision during his post-practice media availability.
“We’re still sorting through it but I thought [NAK] had a real strong game last night,” Carbery said. “Not just the goal, I thought there was a lot of wall play, some forecheck battles, good puck decisions. I think as TJ comes out of the lineup, [NAK is] a right winger that can potentially move up. [He] played really well last night where he’s deserving of a little bit more opportunity potentially tomorrow.”
Aube-Kubel jumped back into the team’s lineup against the Lightning after sitting out the two previous games as a healthy scratch. He made an almost immediate impact, getting the Capitals on the board just 2:30 into the first period.
The highlight-reel tally was NAK’s sixth of the season in 40 games. He skated 9:42 of total ice time in the win and the Capitals controlled play whenever he was on the ice at five-on-five, seeing positive differentials in shot attempts (+5), scoring chances (+2), and high-danger chances (+1).
That fourth line was also on the ice for an additional goal in the game and was not over the boards for any of Tampa Bay’s markers. Beck Malenstyn grabbed the primary assist on NAK’s goal and Aliaksei Protas set up Rasmus Sandin for the game-winner.
Outside of NAK’s promotion, the only other piece of lineup news that Carbery commented on was concerning recent recall, Pierrick Dube. Carbery did not fully commit to saying that Dube would be getting his NHL debut against the Panthers on Saturday but has prepared the 23-year-old winger in case that opportunity arises.
“Good chance he plays,” Carbery said. “You don’t want a young player playing in his first NHL game overthinking it. It’s more of a compete thing – go out there and work. All the little things that he knows about. Just reminding him that those are the things that are going to be important.
“You don’t want a player constantly thinking about his positioning and stuff so we’ll make sure he has the basics of [our structure] but what I want to see from him is competitiveness, good with his puck touches, strong on the walls, get his shot off whenever he can. Show your offensive instincts that you’ve been able to showcase all your life and specifically this year in Hershey.”
Dube is the Bears’ leading goal scorer this season with 24 goals in 50 games. He is also just one goal off the league lead.
The Capitals also recalled Hendrix Lapierre from the Hershey Bears on Friday. Carbery could use Lapierre down the middle against the Lightning and return Protas to the wing. Lapierre jumping back into the lineup would preclude a debut for Dube.
Puck drop against the Panthers is at 6 pm on Saturday. Florida comes into the game after being shut out by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Both Matthew Tkachuk and Gustav Forsling left that game in the first period with injuries and have been listed as “day-to-day” by head coach Paul Maurice.
