The Washington Capitals lined-up with a very unorthodox lineup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. Due to some question marks on their backend, the Caps iced 13 forwards and just five defensemen.
Three of the team’s regular defenders, Martin Fehervary, John Carlson, and Matt Roy, were scratched ahead of puck drop. Carlson missed his third straight game for “maintenance,” while Fehervary and Roy played in Tuesday night’s 3-1 win against the Islanders.
Roy escaped the night seemingly unscathed, but the same could not be said for his regular partner this year. Fehervary departed the game after appearing to turn his ankle late in the first period. He returned during the second period and finished the game, but did not skate on Thursday morning.
“We’ve got some things going on with the backend, so that will be a work in progress with some guys,” head coach Spencer Carbery said pregame. “Working through some bumps and bruises and that, so can’t tell you exactly what the backend will look like, but all of our forwards will play.”
Fehervary had played in all 81 games of the season up until missing the final game of the regular season in Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old Slovakian rearguard posted career highs in points (25) and assists (20) this season, skating 19:00 of ice time per game.
With the Capitals playing down a defenseman, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported during the broadcast that Carbery mentioned Pierre-Luc Dubois could fill in as an emergency blueliner if the other five defenders see their minutes get out of control. PLD played the position in his youth hockey days, and his dad, Eric Dubois, coaches defensemen for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
