The Washington Capitals will field a familiar top-six forward group against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Following a two-game experiment with Pierre-Luc Dubois centre Alex Ovechkin on the team’s top line, head coach Spencer Carbery is returning to how Washington began the 2024-25 season.
Dylan Strome will reconnect with Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas, while Dubois will play alongside Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson. Carbery originally returned to the well with the two lines late in Thursday night’s 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
“I anticipate it staying the same [as it finished against Ottawa],” Carbery said Saturday morning.
Ovechkin had been paired solely with Strome for the first 27 games of this season. The Capitals were very successful with the two on the ice at five-on-five early in the season, outscoring their opponents 23-9. However, as Ovechkin returned to Washington’s lineup following his fractured leg, their connection deteriorated.
During Ovechkin and Strome’s combined five-on-five minutes over the last nine games, the Capitals saw only 42.1% of shot attempts, 32.3% of projected goals, 35.2% of scoring chances, and 27.3% of high-danger chances. Their prior great successes were entirely reversed, with a 4-2 loss.
Ovechkin’s time with Dubois was brief, with only 20:58 of total ice time in the final two games. Their results were positive, thanks in large part to a victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
With the two on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals outshot Anaheim and Ottawa 21-19, scoring 51.4% of the predicted goals. Dubois, McMichael, and Wilson have been Carbery’s most reliable line this season, and with good cause. While playing some of the most difficult minutes on the team against the opposition’s best players, the Capitals have generated 53.8 percent of scoring opportunities, 53.3 percent of high-danger chances, and 53.2 percent of projected goals with three players on the ice at five-on-five.
Carbery employed the Dubois line to match Sidney Crosby’s line in the Capitals’ season-opening meeting with the Penguins. Washington easily won the game, with positive differentials in shot attempts (+5), scoring chances (+6), and high-danger opportunities (+4). During their time on the ice, the Capitals scored one goal and did not allow Pittsburgh to score.
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