JUNKIES: Coach Carbs on the Caps' point streak, Logan Thompson's strong run
The Caps have points in eight straight games now after Tuesday's 3-0 win over Anaheim, going 5-0-3 in that stretch, although this one was a little less stressful than the rest, as they went up 1-0 early and 2-0 after one period and never looked back.
Didn't help Spencer Carbery sleep any better than his usual mind-racing four hours a night, but hey, points are points, and two are better than one, which is better than none – and a big help in getting four points in the last two games is goalie Logan Thompson, who has stopped 51 out of 52 shots and got his first shutout as a Cap last night, and is now 7-0-1 with a 1.69 GAA in his last eight.
"He's had a phenomenal start to the year, and over the first half of the season, he's been a rock back there, especially of late after Chucky went down, playing the Nashville game and then playing sort of a second in a row last night," Carbery said. "He was excellent, and Nashville, he stole us the game; they outplayed us in that game, and he was fantastic. He's been great for us, and a big part of why we are where we are, wins and losses-wise."
The Capitals have had pretty much a goaltending platoon up until Charlie Lindgren was hurt in last Friday's OT loss to the Canadiens, and while he could return soon, will there be any changes to the rotation given how hot Thompson has been?
"You never like to lose a goaltender to injury, and Chucky being out, I don't think it's gonna be too long-term, which is great news, but also it's an opportunity for LT to play some more games and show that he could play two or three or four in a row, whatever it might be," Carbery said. "So I don't look at it as necessarily a negative. It's a negative losing Chucky to injury, but Logan getting an opportunity to play a little bit more is a good test for him, and a good opportunity to prove and show that he wants more opportunity, which I think is healthy."
Time will tell, but Carbs knows one thing for sure: this, for one, is a situation they don't exactly teach you in whatever classifies as the learning curve for being a head coach.
"I've learned a ton and I'm always getting better and fine-tuning; it's hard to explain, but with experience you just get better," Carbs said. "It's not like you're going to school and studying how to coach and handle different situations and communicate; just with experience, and as you get to know your players and your team better, you just become way more effective in what you're doing. The experiences that you go through with your players in certain situations and games, you just get better and better and better at handling those, and coaching those situations."
Take a listen to Carbs' entire visit above, as he also discusses the Caps' five-on-five resurgence while still trying to work through some offensive issues, Ethan Frank's impact since coming up, and more!
