The Capitals put Miroshnichenko with Kuznetsov and Wilson on the second line.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals changed things up on Saturday, as the team got reps in for its apparent game group for Sunday's preseason opener while head coach Spencer Carbery got a look at some new combinations.
Most notably, Ivan Miroshnichenko got a move up, as he moved to the top-6 and skated alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson in Group B's practice. The 19-year-old fit right in, moving his feet, battling hard and easily keeping up with Kuznetsov and Wilson on a potential second-line combination.
Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom stayed together, but T.J. Oshie replaced Anthony Mantha on the right wing as Mantha moved groups and is likely to play Sunday. He was skating with Sonny Milano and Hendrix Lapierre.
Connor McMichael also shifted, as he got some time skating on Nic Dowd's wing and operating on a fourth line with Beck Malesntyn.
Here are just a handful of the combinations from Saturday between the two groups:
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie
Ivan Miroshnichenko-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael-Nic Dowd-Beck Malenstyn
Sonny Milano-Hendrix Lapierre-Anthony Mantha
Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Matthew Phillips
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Joel Edmundson-Nick Jensen
Martin Feherary-Vincent Iorio
Alex Alexeyev-Trevor van Riemsdyk
In the game group, Nicolas Aube-Kubel worked with Riley Sutter and Jake Karabela, while Alexander Suzdalev also worked with Ryan Hofer and Henrik Rybinski and Bogdan Trineyev.
In addition to some new lines and group moves, Washington reunited Darcy Keumper and Charlie Lindgren, and the two NHL netminders worked to mentor Antoine Keller, who made the move up to one of the main groups to get some pro reps in.
Standouts from the day include Matthew Phillips, who continues to showcase his skill and is trying to prove he can play bigger than he is and be a full-time NHLer, as well as Hendrix Lapierre.