With stars still getting in sync, Caps’ 4th line a bright spot in loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
By reinserting Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson back into the lineup Sunday, the Capitals’ chances of making a deep Stanley Cup playoff run improved tremendously. But in the meantime, their new-look lineup is working through a few kinks.
Prior to this weekend, neither Backstrom nor Wilson had appeared in an NHL game since the Capitals’ first-round series with the Florida Panthers last May. Head coach Peter Laviolette immediately put them on important forward lines and placed them on power-play units. They each recorded 14 minutes of ice time in their returns and skated even more in Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Backstrom registered his first assist of the season against the Flyers on a pass that set up a T.J. Oshie score, but it came late in the third period when the Capitals were in desperation mode trying to complete a three-goal comeback. Wilson, skating with Conor Sheary and Dylan Strome, didn’t get off a single shot on the night.
Turnovers were a consistent theme with the Capitals still showing some of the rust that comes with adding two players coming off major injuries to the lineup at once. The only line that showed strong chemistry was the fourth line, which contributed two of the Capitals’ three goals on tallies by Garnet Hathaway and Marcus Johansson.
Washington’s trio of Hathaway, Johansson and Nic Dowd skated together for just 5:43 of ice time but generated as many scoring chances (four) as the Capitals’ second line of Backstrom, Oshie and Lars Eller in half the time. Wilson, Sheary and Strome finished with zero in 9:10.
While there are lots of players in new roles as a result of the lineup changes — both Strome and Eller have played a game on the wing while Sonny Milano has started skating on the top line with Alex Ovechkin — Dowd and Hathaway have skated on the same line together for almost three years. Johansson is a recent addition to the line, but he scored an unassisted goal off a turnover by the Flyers.
If the Capitals can get their newly returned stars right and clicking with their linemates, their lineup has the potential to be one of the best in the NHL. For now, the team is trying to figure out in real-time how to win games while the lines get going.