Depth at forward is starting to pay dividends
When big dogs struggle, 3rd-, 4th-liners stepping up
WASHINGTON — The play was a perfectly executed tic-tac-toe sequence Friday night, and the Capital One Arena crowd roared its approval. Brendan Leipsic flew down the left wing and sent a perfect cross-ice pass onto the stick of Travis Boyd, who dished the puck to a trailing Chandler Stephenson, who beat Buffalo’s Linus Ullmark to light the goal lamp and give the Capitals a 2-0 firstperiod lead.
The score, part of a four-goal first period, keyed the Capitals’ 6-1 win Friday night, a performance that showcased the team’s improved bottom-six depth. Leipsic later scored the Capitals’ fourth goal — his first as a Capital — at the 10:44 mark of the first period on a night the fourth line contributed two goals and three assists.
The second line also was strong, with Jakub Vrana scoring twice and Tom
Wilson with a goal and two assists.
Through October, the Capitals relied heavily on their core leadership group, with Alex Ovechkin leading the team with 11 goals in the first 14 games. Defenseman John Carlson had a stellar month, recording 23 points (seven goals and 16 assists) as he set the franchise record for points in a month for a defenseman. He was named the NHL’s first star for October and was the first defenseman to earn the honor since Calgary’s Mark Giordano five seasons ago.
Those contributions were a big reason the Capitals became the first team in the NHL to win 10 games, the first time that has happened since Washington and Montreal both reached the mark Nov. 1, 1991.
But on Friday, it was the Capitals’ bottom line that seized the spotlight. Coach Todd Reirden said he was impressed with the speed and their efforts in the defensive zone. Goaltender Braden Holtby called the fourth line “phenomenal.”
“I mean obviously the big dogs, they are big dogs for a reason, but they aren’t going to be able to score every night, and I think the mark of a good team is a team that has that ability when your first two lines maybe aren’t on their ‘A game’ and you can get a third or fourth line that can step up and contribute,” Boyd said. “It was a great team effort, all four lines.”
Against Buffalo, the fourth line was without Nic Dowd (lower body) who was