Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden may have tipped his hand on how he’d like his top six to line up in the 2020 playoffs.
According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson skated together on the first line while Nicklas Backstrom skated on the second in the team’s first session today. Backstrom appears likely to skate with Jakub Vrana and TJ Oshie, who were on the first line of the second practice group with Travis Boyd.
Line combos and D pairs in Capitals first practice group today:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Maillet-Backstrom-Hathaway
Hagelin-Eller-PinhoSiegenthaler-Carlson
Dillon-OrlovGersich was with first group yesterday, but apparently might skate with second group today.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) July 14, 2020
Group 1’s goalies were Braden Holtby and Pheonix Copley.
Line combinations in Capitals second practice group today:
Vrana-Boyd-Oshie
Panik-Dowd-Kovalchuk
Malenstyn-McMichael-Sprong
Pilon rotating inFehervary-Gudas
Kempny/Lewington-JensenVanecek
Leonhardt— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) July 14, 2020
Ovi, Kuzy, and Wilson were matched together during the Capitals’ Stanley Cup run in 2018. Ovechkin led the NHL postseason in goals (15) and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as Playoff MVP. Kuznetsov led the ‘loffs in points (34) and was arguably the Capitals’ best player.
Reirden’s defensive pairings were also interesting. The tandems included Jonas Siegenthaler and John Carlson on the first pairing, Brenden Dillon and Dmitry Orlov on the second, and Martin Fehervary with Radko Gudas on the third. Michal Kempny, who missed practice yesterday, skated with Tyler Lewington and Nick Jensen.
Reirden has separated the two groups by who has skated more during the NHL’s four-month break during the coronavirus pandemic.
