Aliaksei Protas appears set for his playoff debut this season after another full skate on Wednesday morning.
Per RMNB’s Katie Adler, Protas jumped off the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex with the rest of his teammates. Meanwhile, forward Taylor Raddysh stuck around for extra work with the likely scratches, indicating he’ll come out of the lineup in favor of Protas. The Washington Capitals can eliminate the Montreal Canadiens with a win in Game 5 at Capital One Arena, Wednesday night.
“Yeah, we’ll see [about Protas] tonight,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “I’ll talk to the medical staff. He had a good day yesterday, today full-go, so we’ll see what they say. We’ll see for tonight.”
Raddysh was previously Carbery’s first choice to come out of the club’s lineup earlier this month when Ryan Leonard made his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins. The 27-year-old winger has exclusively played on the fourth line with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime during the series against Montreal.
In the four games, Raddysh has recorded one assist, averaging 11:40 of ice time per game. He is not a part of either of the Capitals’ power-play units and does not kill penalties, making him an easier option for Carbery to swap out for Protas. Carbery mentioned Tuesday that he was not worried about Protas jumping straight into a playoff series after missing 10 games.
“He hasn’t been out for two months,” Carbery said. “It’s been a few weeks, so when he gets back in, and usually it’s different for every player, you’re hoping he can pick up as quickly as possible. Takes him maybe a period, a couple shifts to get acclimated with the pace of play, physicality, the things that are required in playoff hockey.”
With Raddysh the likely scratch, the next question will be where Protas slots into the team’s four lines. The 24-year-old winger played much of the season with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome on the Capitals’ top line, but the two have seemingly formed great chemistry in Protas’s absence with postseason standout Anthony Beauvillier. With his five points (1g, 4a), Beauvillier ranks tied for second in playoff five-on-five scoring with Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, and Phillip Danault.
Carbery could also place Protas back onto the left wing of a shutdown, two-way line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson. The three played 192:22 of ice time together during the regular season, seeing 56.2 percent of shot attempts, 57.7 percent of expected goals, 56.9 percent of scoring chances, and 54.9 percent of high-danger chances. The Capitals also outscored their opponents 13-5 during those minutes.
The Capitals will own the last change on home ice, so Carbery can again control matchups against the Canadiens’ high-scoring top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky. Dubois, Wilson, and Connor McMichael saw most of that planned matchup in Games 1 and 2.
Puck drop for Game 5 is set for 7:00 pm.
Update: Raddysh testified as a witness Wednesday afternoon in the sexual assault trial of five of his former Hockey Canada teammates. He appeared in court virtually from MedStar Capitals Iceplex, with his testimony ending before 4 pm.
