At the morning skate on Tuesday, the Caps forward lines were juggled again. The new lines are the exact lines the Caps should go with for the rest of the season. The best nine forwards are in the top-nine and all three of the combos have had success together in the past.
Furthermore, there’s no #TopLineDSP, Jakub Vrana isn’t on nacho duty, and Andre Burakovsky is getting a jersey as well.
Caps lines at morning skate, a lot of shakeup:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Connolly-Eller-Burakovsky
Stephenson-Beagle-DSP
Scratch: ChiassonOvechkin and Backstrom back together. Burakovsky back with the group he played very well with this time last year.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) February 6, 2018
As you can see, Peter has been calling for these #verygood lines for about a month.
Ovi – Backstrom – Wilson
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Connolly – Eller – Burakovsky
I don’t care I don’t care I don’t care— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) January 7, 2018
| Line | Time on ice | Shot attempt % | Goals for % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ovi-Backstrom-Tom | 205:40 | 56.9 | 75.0 |
| Vrana-Kuzy-Oshie | 136:28 | 54.5 | 69.9 |
| Connolly-Eller-Andre | 103:37 | 50.2 | 33.6 |
| Stephenson-Jay-DSP | It’s bad | But please play them | sparingly |
This top-nine is top notch. The first two lines have been absolutely dominant this season and, while the third line has been fine enough (with some bad luck), they were one of the best third lines in hockey last season.
These lines are excellent. Let’s hope they click tonight so Barry Trotz is more likely to keep them together moving forward.
12:35 pm Update: According to Jesse Dougherty, Jakub Vrana may or may not be playing tonight. He did extra work after the morning skate.
This could be a false alarm. These were the lines during skate, but Vrana then did extra work. So now it’s all confusing. https://t.co/w7oVFe55MO
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) February 6, 2018
Headline image: Amanda Bowen
All stats via Natural Stat Trick
