The Capitals saw some major lineup changes as Pacioretty and Bear appear set to make their season debuts on Friday.
The Washington Capitals got a makeover at Thursday's skate on Long Island, as Max Pacioretty and Ethan Bear finally drew into rushes. That said, it looks like both could make their season debuts on Friday against the New York Islanders.
According to the Washington Post's Bailey Johnson, Pacioretty and Bear took rushes for the first time, indicating that both could play on Friday. However, nothing is set in stone. In addition to that, Washington made some more significant tweaks and moved things around.
Connor McMichael moved to the top line and took Dylan Strome's place between Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, as the team looks to spark No. 8.
In turn, Strome went to operate with Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha, who remain together after finding tremendous chemistry so far.
Pacioretty will slot in on the third-line left wing to work with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Matthew Phillips. Call-ups Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko, who will likely get reassigned with Pacioretty coming off long-term injured reserve, drew out. Meanwhile, the fourth line stuck together.
Sonny Milano and T.J. Oshie continue to progress but remain out with respective upper and lower-body injuries. Head coach Spencer Carbery said on Wednesday that Milano is further off than Oshie, and that Oshie is making progress and could be back sooner rather than later.
On the blue line, Bear earned a top-4 role, moving to play in Trevor van Riemsdyk's spot on the second pair with Rasmus Sandin. Van Riemsdyk is the odd man out and appears set to be a healthy scratch for the first time this season. The rest of the pairings remained the same.
With Bear slotting in, expect his contract to be signed today.
Here were the full combinations at practice, per Johnson:
Alex Ovechkin-Connor McMichael-Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Anthony Mantha
Max Pacioretty-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Ethan Bear
Joel Edmundson-Nick Jensen
Extras: Hendrix Lapierre, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Trevor van Riemsdyk
These changes aren't just accommodating to two injured names making their returns, but they also work as an attempt to spark some more 5-on-5 offense. Washington fell 5-1 to the New York Rangers on Wednesday and again struggled to generate chances and get back on the board after Mantha extended his hot streak.
The Capitals will look to put something on the board on Friday against the New York Islanders at 7:30 p.m. ET.