ARLINGTON, V.A. — After a day off following a less-than-ideal road trip up north, the Washington Capitals got back to work with a busy practice on Saturday, one where they engaged in quite a few battle drills and evaluated a change to their power play.
Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson continue to make up that first unit, but on the second unit, Rasmus Sandin and Jakob Chychrun are the two defensemen, while Ovechkin takes Taylor Raddysh's place up front. Andrew Mangiapane and Connor McMichael round out that group.
For coach Spencer Carbery, it's a tweak that the man advantage, which has gone 0-for-18 over the last 10 games, needs.
“When you have 2 D on that second unit it lets the second unit continue to attack even as that power play expires," Carbery said, adding, "(Another benefit is) getting Chychrun on his one-timer flank; that's something we have used on that past. We want to keep him handling pucks over there, shooting it from over there and continue to have that in our back pocket of him being really, really comfortable on that half wall."
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The power play saw more movement against the Minnesota Wild, but there's still room for improvement and the team needs to start figuring out ways to convert with power-play goals able to make or break a game come playoff time.
"I mean, there’s a lot that goes into it. Finishing is one of the parts of the power play, for sure, but there’s a lot that goes into creating those opportunities," As long as you’re generating a high amount of quality looks whether they’re going in or not… you’re going to be a top-5 power play," Carbery said, adding, "It's all about the process, not the finish. Okay, so how do you generate more looks? O-zone time, entries, secondary chances; there’s all sorts of stuff that goes into it.”
The Capitals could also start to see some lineup changes with 10 games remaining in the regular season and D.C. having already clinched a playoff berth and home ice. Washington returns to action at home with a Sunday matinee against the Buffalo Sabres, where one of the regular healthy scratches in Alex Alexeyev, Dylan McIlrath or Ethen Frank could slot back into the mix.
"We should see some guys (getting) into the lineup," Carbery said.
