Yahoo Sports Capitals Notebook: Quick Practice As Team Reviews Loss & Preps For Road Trip, Eller Slots In As Carbery Seeks 'Stability' On Third Line
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals are headed out west for their first big road trip of the season, but before that, they had to take the ice on Thursday for one final mandatory practice to shake off a rough loss the night before.
Head coach Spencer Carbery and the Capitals went through the film and looked back at the team's 4-3 overtime defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Carbery citing several miscues and mistakes that ultimately led to the loss.
"Probably, honestly, a little bit worse than I originally thought at the time," Carbery said of reviewing the tape.
Still, he saw the group get back to basics with a quick skate, where the players ran through lines and got back to the good vibes that had been winning them hockey games to open the year.
Carbery wasn't necessarily looking for a response from the group after the loss but just wanted a solid skate. He got that.
The lines also got a bit of a shakeup as Lars Eller joined the team first time since being re-acquired on Tuesday. He slotted in as the third-line center in place of Hendrix Lapierre. The rest of the lines remained the same.
For Carbery, Eller gives the third line a chance to find some "stability" after being a question mark to open the year.
Here are the combinations as the team heads to Colorado. Washington faces the Avalanche on Friday.
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane-Lars Eller-Jakub Vrana
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Sonny Milano did not skate and remains week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
