ARLINGTON, VA — The Washington Capitals have deployed nearly identical lines since the first day of Training Camp, but that doesn’t mean their chemistry is perfect just three games into the season.
Washington’s third line of Aliaksei Protas, Ilya Protas, and Jordan Kyrou have had a comparatively slow start to the season, on the ice for just one goal (scored by defenseman Cole Hutson) at five-on-five so far.
Head coach Spencer Carbery offered his analysis of the trio after Friday’s morning skate.
“I talked to them this morning,” he said. “Going back through the film, there are some things that I saw inside of their line’s shifts together that they could do a better job of. And going back on it, I would maybe even change my assessment after the game from going through the film of just okay.”
In the Capitals’ 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, all three of Pittsburgh’s goals came against the Protas trio. With the third line on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals had just 16.92% of expected goals for, per Natural Stat Trick, out-chanced 4-1 with a 2-0 disadvantage in high-danger chances.
The line’s numbers are significantly rosier across all three regular-season games combined: 55.76% of expected goals for, a 9-7 advantage in scoring chances, and an even number (3-3) of high-danger chances at five-on-five.
Some amount of adjustment time is understandable: rookie Ilya Protas played just four NHL games last season, while Kyrou is adjusting to a new team after the Capitals traded for him this summer. Still, Aliaksei Protas and Kyrou in particular should be strong offensive weapons for the Capitals, both capable of reaching 30 goals in previous seasons.
Carbery noted that the line has room to improve, but believes doing so should be relatively simple, and plans to keep the line together for now.
“There’s some things, and they’re easy fixes,” Carbery said. “They’re not these crazy outlandish things…there’s some subtle things that they can do to help each other out. I think a little bit of it’s just chemistry stuff, but there’s a there’s a bit of work stuff in there; there’s a little bit of details inside of our structure; there’s a little bit of just do the simple thing and support the puck. So we’re staying with that line, and I think it can be a good line, but definitely there’s some urgency there. We’ve got to get that line going.”
The trio will have their first opportunity to implement those fixes when the Capitals face the New York Rangers on Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7 pm.
