Capitals Notebook: Lines Shake Up After Back-To-Back Losses, Ovechkin Update As He Continues Skating With Group
The Capitals got back to work with an intense practice on Thursday.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — After back-to-back losses on the road, the Washington Capitals saw coach Spencer Carbery shake things up at an intense practice on Thursday.
Carbery made tweaks to the forward lines and defense pairings as the group got to work in intense battle drills in the first part of the skate.
Andrew Mangiapane was promoted to the top trio, while Taylor Raddysh took his place on the third line. Hendrix Lapierre was the placeholder for Lars Eller, who did not practice as he took a maintenance day.
On defense, Rasmus Sandin moved up to work with John Carlson, while Martin Fehervary went to play with Matt Roy on the second pairing.
Here were the combinations:
Andrew Mangiapane-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Aliaksei Protas
Jakub Vrana-Hendrix Lapierre-Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Ivan Miroshnichenko
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary-Matt Roy
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Washington also worked on special teams in the second half of practice amid recent struggles on the power play.
On a positive note, captain Alex Ovechkin again joined the group for practice as he continues to recover from a broken leg, marking the first non-morning skate he's joined the team for.
The 39-year-old remained in a non-contact jersey and did more skills work with Kenny McCudden, but he continues to make strides and take positive steps in the right direction.
After a few practices with full contact and multiple reps, the Capitals will then see if Ovechkin is ready to return to the lineup.
The Capitals will be back in action on Friday when they play host to the Carolina Hurricanes, followed by a showdown with the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
It's unclear when Ovechkin will upgrade to contact, but considering he'll need a handful of contact practices before he plays, it doesn't seem likely he'll play in either of those games.
