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#ConnorMcMichael #appearsset #healthyscratch
The Washington Capitals hit the ice on Sunday morning ahead of their date with the Minnesota Wild at Capital One Arena. It was the first time the team saw action since the Carolina Hurricanes were beaten 6-1 nearly a week ago.
Head coach Peter Laviolet appears to have dealt with the major loss by putting together an almost entirely new roster, backed by the return of several injured skaters. Most notably, however, The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Conor McMichael’s rise is seen as a healthy grip.
Here’s what Lavi’s other new cast looks like via Pell on the Skate.
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Johansson
Manta Kuznetsov-Osh
Sheary-Eller-Wilson
Larsson-Dowd-Hathaway-Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov Jensen
TVR-Schultz
If scratched, McMichael would be on the press box after ten games in which Caps controlled 57.3% of field goal attempts, 65% of expected goals, and 61.9% of five-on-fives ball, and Nachos ate up 68.8 percent of scoring chances and his high-stakes chances on the ice. Those were team bests among players who played in all ten games.
“He played really well,” Laviolette said of McMichael before the Hats’ final game against the Canes. “His speed is very evident in the middle of the ice. He’s playing very confident – for the last five, six, seven games, he’s really made it feel like he’s been on the ice.”
On the other hand, with Lars Eller on the court, the team suffered huge losses in the five-a-side game, although we must remember that Eller’s recent turnaround is very different from McMichael’s. With Eller on the floor, Caps saw only 44 percent of field goal attempts, 42.7 percent of expected goals, 47 percent of scoring chances, and 45.5 percent of high-threat chances.
“Tonight is the starting point for a team that wants to get fitter,” Laviolette told The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir on Sunday. “We’ll see where it goes, but you have to play well in this squad. If you don’t, don’t make it wait too long for me to try and make a change.
In other news, the new lineup also sees Nick Dodd, Trevor van Riemsdijk and John Larson returning from injuries. If Larson plays, it will be his debut in the Capitals and his first NHL game since Jan. 25 for the Coyotes against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dowd and TVR have since been out
