The Washington Capitals have been battling the flu bug lately with Lars Eller on injured reserve and Charlie Lindgren puking during Friday’s Carolina Hurricanes matchup, but according to Caps head coach Spencer Carbery, no one else is down with the sickness ahead of the Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings at 5 pm.
“Everybody’s good. We’re working through…” Carbery said pregame before catching himself. “We’ll have a couple guys warming up. So we should be all set, but there is a chance that our lineup will move around just a touch.”
The Capitals’ lineup against the Hurricanes looked like this.
Carbery did reveal that Lindgren is well enough to back up Logan Thompson, who will get the start.
Henrik Rybinski, called up from the Hershey Bears on Saturday, is not currently scheduled to get a jersey against the Kings, but could play if something unforeseen happens.
“He won’t play tonight, or he’s not planning to play tonight,” Carbery said. “He’ll warm up. Just on a back-to-back with the chance that there’s any centerman misses games or has to miss a game tomorrow night, we don’t have to move Mikey to the middle.”
Carbery said not only was Rybinski deserving of the callup due to his play with Hershey, but also because he can move around and play any forward position.
“He’s had a really good start to his year in Hershey,” Carbery said. “Had a great camp here in Washington and gives us a bit of versatility. There were some wingers in the mix that we certainly considered, but for him to be able to play the wing and center gives us that. That versatility, it’s a prime example as a young player, if you’re able to be moved around, it helps you. It’s an asset as a player.”
The Kings will arrive at Capital One Arena playing their final game of a seven-game road trip which has taken them away from California since December 10. Once the final horn blows, they will have a five-day holiday break.
“I hope our guys pay zero attention to where they’re (at),” Carbery said. “Pay attention to what they do well, pay attention to their personnel, pay attention to the pre-scout. Don’t pay attention to where they’re at from a: is this their fifth game, are they on the road, when does their break start? Worry about the team in front of you and (it has) nothing to do with ‘Oh, they played. Oh, they flew. Oh, that’s interesting. Oh, they might be thinking about holiday break!’”
The Kings are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games despite their tough schedule recently. Overall this season, the Kings have given up the third-fewest goals (85) in the league — only trailing the Dallas Stars (83) and Capitals (84).
“I’m hoping we can carry over some of the things we did the other night against Carolina and do a better job offensively against the top defensive team in the NHL,” Carbery concluded.
