The Washington Capitals used to have one of the most elite shootout lineups in the NHL, but recent changes to the team’s forward group has turned a strength into something else entirely.
Monday, the Capitals fell to the Eastern Conference’s worst team, the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 in the shootout, suffering their second loss via the skills competition in the last three games. This comes after having no games go to a shootout in the 2024 portion of their schedule.
The Capitals are without TJ Oshie, one of the greatest players in NHL shootout history (fourth most shootout goals ever; 49), due to a nagging back issue that appears to have ended his career, and Evgeny Kuznetsov (32nd most shootout goals ever; 29). Kuzy, who found near-constant success late in his Capitals career with his sloth-like approach, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes last season and now plies his trade in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg.
Without those two proven shootout legends, Spencer Carbery is trying to find chemistry and a new consistent shootout lineup. Thus far, the results are not inspiring, small sample size or not. The Capitals have scored only one shootout goal in seven attempts and the decision-making on who is picked has seemed questionable, if not peculiar.
Jan. 2 vs. the Minnesota Wild
❌ Dylan Strome
❌ Pierre-Luc Dubois
❌ Alex Ovechkin
Facing future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in net, the Capitals went with Dylan Strome as their first shooter, a player Carbery relied on six different times last season. Strome, who has connected twice in 13 career opportunities (15.4 percent), was stopped. Pierre-Luc Dubois, a career 29.6 percent shooter (37 of 125), went next and was turned away by MAF’s right pad after dekeing. In the third round, the greatest goal-scorer of all time, Alex Ovechkin, was turned away by Fleury’s glove, giving the Wild the extra standings point. The snake-bit Ovechkin is now 0 for his 11 in shootout attempts dating back to the 2022-23 season.
Jan. 6 vs. the Buffalo Sabres
✅ Pierre-Luc Dubois
❌ Dylan Strome
❌ John Carlson
❌ Jakob Chychrun
Against the Sabres, only Dubois could dent the twine, beating Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the first round with a sneaky snap shot to the far post. Carbery completed his shootout rotation with two consecutive defensemen. They could have won the game if their third shooter, John Carlson, scored, but he was turned away. Jakob Chychrun tried to keep the Capitals alive after JJ Peterka scored at the top of the fourth round, but ran out of room as he tried to deke UPL out of position.
Carlson has been iced by Carbery four different times in the shootout during his two seasons as a head coach and the defenseman has scored only once. While Carlson is a career 30.8 percent shooter, connecting four times in 13 opportunities, he scored half of his career shootout goals and received a majority of his attempts (6) during the Peter Laviolette era from 2020 through 2023.
Chychrun, an offensive defenseman who boasts a heavy shot and silky mitts, is unproven in the skills competition, connecting on one of four career shootout attempts.
In both shootouts, Carbery kept young, skilled forwards who can dangle like Connor McMichael and Jakub Vrana on the bench. Sonny Milano, another frequent pick in the shootout under Carbery, has been unavailable to play due to an upper-body injury for a majority of the season.
Carbery’s decision-making on who shoots this season has leaned more veteran in a skills competition that seems to be dominated across the NHL by proven shootout scorers who have proven moves or young forwards who can bring creativity and keep goalies guessing.
Dubois’s vast history in the shootout makes him deserving of a spot, but other players Carbery uses may need to be rethought. After two consecutive losses so close together, the Capitals head coach has a license to make change. Hopefully, he does.
