Capitals face the Islanders for the first of eight matchups
The Capitals face the New York Islanders for the first of their eight matchups. This is slowly becoming a rivalry for the team. The Capitals let head coach Barry Trotz leave after winning the Stanley Cup, and he went to coach the Islanders. This is also game 3 of at least 4 without Orlov, Samsonov, Ovechkin, and Kuznetsov. Lets take a look at what the Caps need to do in order to secure another two points and a win.
In the last game, the team was more disciplined and stayed out of the penalty box. They need to continue this, so they can play more 5-5 hockey. This allows the team to spread the puck out over the ice and set up plays in the offensive zone.
The team does have a need to tighten up defensively, and Peter Laviolette has already switched up the defensive pairings and tweaked the lines in order to play better defensively. Hopefully, this also carries over to the penalty kill which is underperforming at the moment.
Lastly, the last four games have gone to either overtime, or a shootout. While it still gets a point in the standings, winning in regulation is something that needs to be stressed. While some of it is on Vanachek, letting in some goals, the offensive production just simply has not been there. Lackluster attempts to get the puck in the zone, careless passes, and just sloppy play is the reason for this. Look for the team to tighten up play in the next few games.
From sources on twitter, the lineup at morning skate looked like Vrana, Backstrom, Oshie on line 1. Line 2 is Panik, Eller, Wilson if he’s medically cleared. Line 3 is Hagelin, Dowd, Hathaway. Line 4 is Sprong, Sgarbossa, Sheary. The defensive pairings are Dillon and Carlson first, followed by Chara and Schultz, and lastly Siegenthaler and Trever van Riemsdyk.
