Another Carb-load Wednesday on The Fan, as Caps head coach Spencer Carbery made his weekly appearance with the Junkies, up CRAZY early ahead of tonight’s game in Edmonton.
The Caps had won three of four before a Monday loss to a juggernaut Jets team in Winnipeg, but even Carbs had to admit that one was a tough sled going in.
“That was our first look at them and they're the real deal. You can see why they've been so good this year, especially in their building,” Carbery said. “They’ve added a couple really quality forwards at the deadline and their goaltending is phenomenal. They are no joke, without a doubt.”
One positive in that game is TJ Oshie returned and played 16 minutes, back after a scary injury and now on the precipice of hitting the 1,000 career games milestone as early as this weekend.
“It was good to get him back in game action; I think that was the main sort of hurdle, to get out of that game and be able to feel good physically through it,” Carbery said. “It was a really tough game for him to play because we were on our heels and Winnipeg controlled majority of the play, so from an actual tactical Xs and Os, how his shifts look perspective, I sort of throw that out the window. It was more about him – how did he feel physically, did he feel like he was explosive and pain free? All of that checked out great, so a really good sign, and for him to again play against Edmonton and as he inches closer to that big number.”
Carbs did anything he could to try to find a spark and change momentum in Winnipeg, including changing up some lines – which also can help the players individually given the roster construction – and perhaps it can get things going as the Caps are still 10th in the East and three points behind the teams tied for the second wild-card spot.
“There’s that second wild card, and then sort of further out is third place in the Metro, which Philly is a little bit further ahead,” Carbery said. “We're continuing to fight, we're staying in this thing, and I don't think we'll do anything different. It’s a gauntlet; we know and we're trying to stay in the moment here, but we just gotta grind for points and find a way tonight against a really good hockey team on the road. Then a really difficult back-to-back in Seattle and then Vancouver – it’s not gonna get any easier, but we're just trying to say, how can we get points tonight? If we can get our game to a good spot tonight for 60 minutes, we can give ourselves a chance.”
And, perhaps, they’ll soon have a couple important players back in Nic Down and Martin Fehervery.
“We're hoping tonight; we'll see how this morning goes, but we're hoping tonight,” Carbs said. “That’ll give us a good shot in the arm, because even though results-wise we've been doing okay and finding ways to win some games here, those guys are really good players for us and important players for us, any time we can get them back is welcomed.”
Take a listen to Coach Carbs’ entire segment above, which also includes thoughts on Miro’s first NHL goal and more!
