ARLINGTON, VA — After dropping two games in a row against the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars, the Capitals will look to hold strong against one of the league’s strongest teams when the Florida Panthers come to town for a weekend matinee.
With no morning skate before the afternoon game, the team skated one final time at MedStar Capitals Iceplex before the Saturday matchup.
Here’s what you need to know from practice.
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Martin Fehervary is “good to go” after missing practice on Thursday
A day after sitting out of practice for maintenance, Martin Fehervary was back on the ice on Friday, relieving Ethen Frank of his substitute defenseman duties. Head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed that Fehervary would be in the lineup against the Panthers.
“He will be good to go,” Carbery said.
The Capitals have carried just six defensemen since acquiring goaltender Rémi Poirier on Sunday, sending down Dylan McIlrath to fit Poirier under the 23-man roster limit. As a result, any injury would require the Capitals to make a recall (and either put a player on IR or expose someone to waivers) or play with 13 forwards and 5 defensemen.
Preparing to face Florida
The Capitals are set to go up against the perennially-dangerous Florida Panthers for the first time this season on Saturday. Though the Panthers are playing without stars Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, both out with knee injuries, Carbery doesn’t expect Florida to let off the gas.
“I know they’re missing a key piece in their lineup in Barkov, but I think the way that they play, their identity as a team, is pretty consistent night to night,” Carbery said. “Yu know exactly what you’re going to get. Very similar to a Carolina. I always say this with the utmost respect for (Panthers head coach) Paul Maurice and his staff and what they do: it’s an easy team to pre-scout, because you know exactly what (they’re going to do). And it’s a compliment. Because you knoW every player on their team, forwards, D, are completely on the same page with every situation.
“So when you watch them play, you know exactly, ‘Yep, this is going to happen here, here, here.’ And they know their opponent knows it, and they just say, ‘We’re going to do this better than you, and we’ll end up imposing our will and winning the hockey game.'”
This season, the Panthers have the added weapon of Brady Tkachuk in their arsenal, joining his brother Matthew Tkachuk in Florida over the offseason. Carbery knows the Capitals can’t fully halt the brothers’ style of play, so they’ll instead look to minimize the Tkachuks’ most dangerous opportunities.
“Everybody’s going to talk about the netfront and their ability to get there. I don’t think you’ll prevent them from getting there,” Carbery said. “What you want to do is just be able to limit the amount of time you spend in your zone with them on the ice, and then also find ways to prevent them from getting pucks to the high-danger area where they’re inevitably going to be…You’re not going to prevent them from getting to the net. Can we only let them have access to maybe two or three pucks in and around the net tomorrow?”
Extra faceoff work with Scott Allen
After practice, Boone Jenner, Ilya Protas, and Anthony Beauvillier stayed out on the ice, working on faceoffs with assistant coach Scott Allen.
Carbery emphasized the importance of regular faceoff practice for his team’s centers, even veterans with a strong record in the dot.
“That’s a daily occurrence with Scotty Allen,” Carbery said. “Stromer, Booner, Ilya, they work on that every single day to just stay sharp with it. A lot of it’s like timing, different techniques and that…Taking draws is not something that you just like, ‘Okay, I’ve mastered this and now I stopped taking draws. only take them in games.’ These guys work at that skill consistently through a season.”
The Capitals acquired a valuable faceoff weapon this season in Jenner, who has won 54.6% of his draws so far this season. Though Jenner has served primarily as a winger, his presence gives Washington another option when he’s on the ice with rookie Ilya Protas, and he’s often stepped in to take the draw for their line.
“He’s just so strong in the circle,” Carbery said of Jenner. “So one of two things happen (when he takes a faceoff). Either LP (Protas) will tell him a certain matchup…sometimes one guy will have your number, and so LP will call Boone if if he’s lost maybe two or three in a row to a certain guy, certain technique. And then some there’ll be some draws where LP might be on his on his weak side, and Boone will take that draw instead of LP, just because Boone is so strong on draws, so sometimes they do switch.”
Boone Jenner “just does everything right”
The Washington Capitals made two huge acquisitions at forward, trading for veteran scorers Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou during the offseason. But unrestricted free agent signing, Boone Jenner had made just as big of an impact from the fourth line.
Early on, the former captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets has scored six goals — second most on the team — and has done so while playing in heavily defensive deployments with some of the Capitals’ youngest players.
“He’s a very easy player to play with,” Carbery said, singing his praises. “And I think, like, Boone, the best compliment I could give him is, when I cut a game (for highlights), I’m cutting it for team stuff and I’m cutting it for individual stuff positive and negative. And so you go through Boone’s film and his shifts. And I’ve got to tell you, like maybe once or twice… I’m like ’22, wrong spot. 22, failed puck play.’ He just does everything right and it doesn’t show up on the score sheet.
“But when you watch the games back, I would be like, ‘Man, I would love to play with Boone Jenner.’ Because he’s just in the right spot all over the ice offensively and defensively.”
Capitals prepare for Hometown Remix debut
Saturday’s game will mark the first appearance of Washington’s new Hometown Remix jerseys, which the team officially unveiled on Monday. Players have spent the last week and a half breaking in their blue, black, and bronze gear — including new pads and helmets for the goaltenders — and even the coaching staff have matched the new theme, donning brighter blue jumpsuits in lieu of their usual navy attire.
Players’ reactions to the jerseys have been positive.
“They’re nice,” Wilson said earlier this week. “Very different than what we’ve worn the last bunch of years. Definitely a cool spin on things, bringing some of the history of the jersey back around. Kind of a cool trend across the league… I grew up with a black-with-gold-trim Ovi jersey when I was a kid, so it’s cool to see that logo come back.”
The Capitals will wear the Hometown Remix jerseys 11 times this season, including on Saturday against the Panthers.
Capitals projected lines
With Fehervary back on the ice, the Capitals practiced with their full projected lineup on Friday.
Puck drop is set for 12:30 pm against the Panthers on Saturday, with Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin on the call for Monumental Sports Network.
