Coming off an 8-1 win over the Blues on Saturday, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery will have a new weapon to deploy tonight after the Caps re-acquired Lars Eller on Tuesday.
And, hopefully, eight more goals in Wednesday’s game against Toronto.
“I felt pretty good about how we were gonna play that night,” Carbery told the Junkies Wednesday. “Even though it was a back-to-back in the travel, I was pretty confident that our guys would respond from the Pittsburgh game – but to score that amount, especially the way it happened with most of them coming late in the third period, I don't think you ever really get a feeling like we're gonna get six or seven tonight.”
Carbs knows what it’s like to be on the business end of a game like that, too, although again, it was 3-1 after two periods against Saint Louis before all that, so ‘in a moment like that, you get caught off guard – and when it’s that late, usually you're not thinking ‘let's pull the goalie and put the other guy in.’”
Oh, and speaking of putting the new guy in, Eller is back and in uniform for Wednesday, and Carbs is excited to have one of the heroes of the Stanley Cup run back in the fold.
“I was fairly involved in just having some discussions when this sort of came up, and we're certainly familiar with Lars, and he's familiar with, you know, the city, the organization, a ton of the players here. He trains here in the summer, so there's a lot of familiarity there with Lars and his skill set, and who he is as a person and the fit into our group,” Carbery said. “As far as where he fits, it’s funny - in the summer we had questions about how we’re going to fit all five center men, but Connor McMichael has had a great start to the year and looks fantastic on the left wing, so we don’t want to move him back. So, management saw this opportunity to bring someone in that we're very familiar with that can give us depth at the center position, which is going to be imperative as injuries come and the season runs long.”
Maybe he’ll get some time alongside Alex Ovechkin in some sets, with Ovi scorching hot to start the season – 10 goals in 14 games on 20 percent shooting, which has him on pace to break Gretzky’s record this year after it took him almost half a season to get to double-digits in 2023-24.
“He looks really, really good and has looked good since the start of camp, and he is moving well. He might not admit this and say it was a typical offseason, but I felt like with the way last year ended, I felt like he was highly motivated this offseason,” Carbery said. “Coming into this year, I think maybe there's a little bit of a chip and a little bit of added motivation. He’s looked excellent from day one at training camp. And, there’s some confidence that pucks have gone in, as opposed to last season; when goal scorers’ pucks start to go in, it snowballs confidence, and you feel really good every time you touch a puck, you feel like it's going into the back of the net.”
And there’s one other thing, too, that also has to do with movement.
“I feel like the chemistry with Stromer, and us making the move to put Protas up there on the left side because he’s a left shot, and move O to the right side…the chemistry on that line has been exceptional,” Carbery said. “Protas is a big guy, he can skate and get pucks on the forecheck but he’s also a great passer and has great vision, so I think the chemistry on the line has helped as well.”
Take a listen to Carbs’ entire visit, as he also delved a little into tonight’s game with Toronto, the defensemen’s offensive production, and more!