The Washington Capitals held their first full practice of the 2024 postseason on Friday morning. Game One of the team’s first-round series against the New York Rangers isn’t slated until Sunday afternoon so the Capitals don’t have to make the trip up to New York just yet.
Head coach Spencer Carbery had his team run line rushes for the first time during the postseason at the skate. The forward groups and defense pairings are identical to how the Capitals finished the regular season.
The top line has been somewhat successful results-wise in the about 140 minutes they’ve spent together at five-on-five. They hold a positive goal differential (5-4) and should given they received very sheltered assignments from the coaching staff with 77.1 percent of their faceoffs coming in the offensive zone.
Process-wise the trio has struggled in their relatively small sample size together. The Capitals have seen just 43.2 percent of the shot attempts, 35.4 percent of the expected goals, 46.8 percent of the scoring chances, and 47.4 percent of the high-danger chances with the three over the boards at five-on-five.
Dylan Strome’s second line is by far the team’s strongest unit. After being put together late in the season, the Capitals have dominated play with them on the ice. The team saw 60.5 percent of the shot attempts, 66.6 percent of the expected goals, 61.4 percent of the scoring chances, and 63.6 percent of the high-danger chances during their five-on-five minutes.
The Capitals will need scoring from all four lines to upset the Rangers. After Alex Ovechkin (72) and TJ Oshie (34), Max Pacioretty (25) has the most career postseason tallies on the team’s roster. Pacioretty only scored four times in 47 regular-season games so he’ll need to find some past form alongside Hendrix Lapierre and Sonny Milano to provide a boost from the third line.
On defense, the team is still waiting to see if Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen can return in time from their respective upper-body injuries. Carbery told reporters on Friday that both “absolutely could be” involved at Saturday’s practice and options for Sunday’s Game One after they skated together for the second straight day.
If both blueliners can go in New York, Carbery will have a decision to make as two of Vincent Iorio, Alex Alexeyev, and Dylan McIlrath will need to come out of the lineup. They would join Ivan Miroshnichenko, Mike Sgarbossa, Lucas Johansen, and the recently recalled Mitch Gibson in the press box as healthy scratches.
In goal, Charlie Lindgren is assuredly set for his first career NHL playoff start. The 30-year-old backstop has 12 games of AHL playoff experience under his belt from his time with the Springfield Thunderbirds and St. John’s IceCaps.
Per Capitals PR, Lindgren started 19 of the Capitals’ final 22 games, posting a record of 12-6-2 with a 2.39 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, and three shutouts. His 12 wins since March 7 rank first in the NHL, while his three shutouts are tied for first.
Puck drop on Sunday is set for 3 pm. The Capitals will return home for Game Three on Friday night.
