A tough 4-3 shootout loss for the Capitals in Philly Thursday night, but there were a few positives to take away – like Dylan Strome’s continued hot streak, which led Coach Spencer Carbery to tell the Junkies Friday that Stromer is playing the best hockey of his career.
“I think so; at this point in his career, he’s found a groove offensively and he's playing first line center and really taken on that role, so I would say so,” Carbery said. “I've liked his game a lot. Not just the goals, some other things that he's done in that role as a first line center.”
Still, even with a point and positive things, how you feel about a game like Thursday’s depends on how you played, and not necessarily the score.
“It depends on how it came about; process-wise, a lot of good things – special teams, good score, power play goal, penalty kill was great with a kill off a five-on-three – and we set ourselves up to win a game, and then, we didn't like our last 10 minutes,” Carbery said. “That's where we've been really good all year of playing with leads being able to close games out, and I thought we got really sloppy late in that game, which is frustrating because you put yourself in a good position to win on the road against a divisional rival and it got away with us. The self-inflicted stuff, that's the frustrating part.”
Alex Ovechkin’s lack of production is also frustrating, but Carbs believes the breakout is coming.
“I think they just haven’t gone in. The shot volume is there, so you dissect why they’re not going in,” Carbery said. “A goal scorer, I refuse to believe he forgets how to score; like, that's not how it works, but as you get older, it becomes just a little bit harder to beat goalies and, and to pick corners and to be precise in that. But at the same time, he's generating the same shot volume, even as his shooting percentage is the lowest obviously in his career, and that’s why I believe they’ll eventually start to fall for him. Like last night where he hit the one-timer from his office and it hits him in the head and we score 10 seconds later – normally he has 12-15 of those a year and this year he has zero, but I tend to believe they're gonna go in at some point. Just keep generating those opportunities, get your spots.”
Take a listen to Coach Carbs’ entire segment, which include thoughts on Charlie Lindgren’s game, their uptick in scoring, and more!
