Spencer Carbery shakes up Capitals lines at practice following team’s first back-to-back losses of season

The Washington Capitals’ 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night represents the first time they have lost two games in a row this season. Washington was 5-0 following a loss before falling to the Colorado Avalanche and Devils in consecutive games.

The club’s forwards recorded just two goals with captain Alex Ovechkin out of the lineup for both games. Head coach Spencer Carbery shook things up mid-game against the Devils and continued that process during the team’s practice on Sunday morning.

Lines

 

Three of the forward lines looked different than they did to start the game against New Jersey. Some of the changes occurred because Brandon Duhaime did not skate. He took another maintenance day with his foot still sore from blocking a Cale Makar shot in Denver on November 15.

When asked about players moving up and down, Carbery would not commit to the changes moving forward. The Capitals are heading out on a two-game road trip to Florida this week to play the Panthers and Lightning.

“We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow,” Carbery said. “We’re missing some guys. Well, Dewey was out, so we’re just. Yeah, I don’t want to make a commitment to anything for tomorrow, so I’m not going to get into the specifics of who’s playing where because it might change in 12 hours.”

One of the more noticeable updates to the lineup is Taylor Raddysh’s move to the second line from his regular fourth-line role. Raddysh has previously played a top-six role in the NHL, scoring 20 goals in 78 games with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2022-23 campaign.

With Carbery’s desire to see more of his forwards pick up their production around the front of the net, Raddysh may be able to provide a scoring touch to a top six that has suddenly gone cold at even strength.

“Well, that’s what we’re hoping, and he’s not the biggest guy, but he’s gotta find a way if he’s going to get back to that scoring level,” Carbery said. “That’s where you score. So, what I’ve talked a lot about this year is, if we’re just relying on rush chances, a two-on-one, a beating a goalie up the slot. If that’s all you as a player are relying on, it’s hard to score that way. You’ve gotta add by generating and getting chances on the interior, and that’s what we’re working on doing.”

Ivan Miroshnichenko has also been moved off the top line in favor of Tom Wilson and practiced in Raddysh’s old spot to the right of Nic Dowd on the fourth line. The potential demotion comes despite Carbery being happy with the young Russian’s performance in his first game of the year.

“I thought he was really good,” Carbery said postgame. “Bobbled a few pucks where you could see it was almost in a good spot, almost got a shot off. So, those probably come with a little bit more playing time and a little bit as he gets more comfortable back in the NHL. [He] had a couple really good sequences that caught my eye where he did a good job. I liked his game. He played a strong game for us.”

The Capitals will be joined on their road trip by a slew of their dads, brothers, and other family members as they start their Mentors’ Trip with a game against the Panthers on Monday night.