Yahoo Sports The Capitals' Third Line 'Just Hasn't Worked' All Year, So Carbery's Trying Something New To Bring It To Life; What It Means For Eller
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Coach Spencer Carbery didn't mince words when it came to the Washington Capitals third line, which has become something of a revolving door.
"Everything we've done on that third line just hasn't worked," Carbery said. "I'll be blunt."
The Capitals' third line hasn't been able to find a lot of chemistry over the course of the season, with Hendrix Lapierre being unable to find his game at the highest level, Sonny Milano out with a long-term injury and Jakub Vrana and Ivan Miroshnichenko battling over a full-time spot in the rotation.
Washington had tried to solve its issues on that combination by acquiring Lars Eller, but he's been unable to find much success since returning to the District and has been dealing with his own struggles.
"It's been a hard transition for Lars, with the trade and family and moving over and the new team, and you know, his role's different here than it was in Pittsburgh, then he gets sick; it’s been one thing after the other," Carbery said. "The line and lack of chemistry on that line and having to help Lappy and all these different factors I take into account."d
To try and fix the woes, Carbery shook up the entire lineup but did a lot to revamp that third trio.
He took Eller out of the center role and put him on the wing, and then plugged in Connor McMichael, who's slowed down of late following a red-hot start to the season, down the middle, to try and provide a spark.
It marks McMichael's long-awaited return to center after starting the year on the wing, and Carbery is hoping that it will cause a domino effect and get McMichael's production back up while also benefitting Eller and giving that whole combination a new look.
"We always figured eventually he would make his way back into the middle of the ice, and the time is now for us to try and shake our group up a little bit, try to get a little bit speed down the middle of the rink," Carbery said. "Try to get him going a little bit and get the puck in his hands a little bit more and him utilizing his speed and 200-foot game. So we’ll see how that works.
"Maybe this will give (Eller) a little opportunity to get his feet under him, give him a different line combo, let Mikey carry a lot of the responsibilities in the middle of the ice… hopefully, that gets Lars going a little bit.”
Instead of Andrew Mangiapane, who went to operate on the fourth line, Jakub Vrana was on the other wing and appears set to dress over Ivan Miroshnichenko when that new-look line takes the ice on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
At the end of the day, Carbery just wants to see where that combination goes, and then make changes if necessary.
"Everything we tried there we have just not found stability on that line this year. We're going to try something different until we find something that can give us reliable minutes consistently," Carbery said.
