After showing more jump and picking up their first point of the season Friday night against the New Jersey Devils, the Washington Capitals practiced Saturday with the same lines. That meant Joey Crabb and Jay Beagle still on the top line with Alex Ovechkin, who’s back to left wing.
“I wouldn’t call it the first line,” line juggling coach Adam Oates said after the overtime loss. “It’s just more to … let them play with Ovi for 60 minutes so they can skate.”
Oates and his players saw significant progress against the Devils compared to the previous three games. It wasn’t enough to get a victory, but if it’s kind of not broke, why fix it?
Lines and pairings
Alex Ovechkin – Jay Beagle – Joey Crabb
Wojtek Wolski – Nicklas Backstrom – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Mike Ribeiro – Joel Ward
Matt Hendricks – Marcus Johansson – Eric Fehr / Mathieu Perreault
Karl Alzner - Mike Green
John Erskine - John Carlson
Jeff Schultz - Tomas Kundratek
Roman Hamrlik - Tom Poti
