Capitals forward Connor McMichael is set to play center.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals know that what they’ve done so far against the Carolina Hurricanes just hasn’t been working, so they’re making changes.
Washington held a full practice and worked on quite a bit, from power play to 5-on-5. Alex Ovechkin wasn’t on the ice, taking a maintenance day, as his team shook up the lines in a big way.
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Anthony Beauvillier was moved back to the top line with Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. Ethen Frank was the placeholder for Ovechkin. Meanwhile, Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Aliaksei Protas skated on the second line.
The biggest change, though, was on the bottom-6. Connor McMichael moved to the center for Lars Eller, skating between Andrew Mangiapane and Ryan Leonard. On the fourth line, Taylor Raddysh drew back in with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime.
“It’s no different than putting him at left wing or right wing. He’s a good hockey player,” coach Spencer Carbery said.
Washington kept its defense pairings the same.
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Here were the full combinations from practice:
Ethen Frank (placeholder for Alex Ovechkin)-Dylan Strome-Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Aliaksei Protas
Andrew Mangiapane-Connor McMichael-Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Anthony Beauvillier
Lars Eller
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun-Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dylan McIlrarh-Ethan Bear
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
The power play also got a tweak, with Aliaksei Protas putting in work on the second unit and Jakob Chychrun replacing John Carlson on PP1.
Washington will play to stay alive in Game 5 on Thursday.