Defensive shuffling
Capitals continue blue line rotation, ‘taking inventory’ as NHL trade deadline looms
WASHINGTON — For the third consecutive game, the Washington Capitals will shuffle their defensive pairings.
To get a better look at young defenseman Martin Fehervary, the Capitals will scratch Radko Gudas for Monday night’s game against the New York Islanders. Fehervary replaced Nick Jensen on the second pair with Dmitry Orlov against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. In last Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, he skated on the third pair with
Gudas, replacing Jonas Siegenthaler.
“This is a luxury and we have been fortunate to not have the injuries back there, but you have to be prepared for them so that is why it is important that organizationally we take inventory,” Capitals Coach Todd Reirden said.
In his last two games, Fehervary has fared well, receiving praise from Reirden and teammates. Fehervary, 20, has appeared in 45 games with Hershey this season, posting 14 points (four goals, 10 assists).
“Seems more confident to me positionally, understanding exactly what we
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TV: Radio: wanted now that he has done it systematically for 40 games,” Reirden said of Fehervary. “I just think he looks more under control out there to match speed and match size, and that is the first impression I get from him for watching these games and he’s been good in the first” two.
This will be the first time this season that Gudas is a healthy scratch. As the Capitals have created chances for Fehervary, Reirden said it’s been a good time for Siegenthaler, Jensen and Gudas to reset.
“We knew that these three guys were the ones who were going to come out and now it gives a chance for them to spend more time working after the game and before the game video-wise and skill work and, you know, kind of break the rhythm a little bit of playing game after game,” Reirden said.
This is the fourth and final meeting in the regular season for the Capitals and Islanders. The last one was the Capitals’ thrilling 6-4 comeback win on Jan. 18 at Nassau Coliseum. The team is 2-1-0 against the Islanders this season.
“Tonight is a night for us to respond in a number of different areas,” Reirden said. “The league is too good to play like we did on Saturday and expect any other result so like I said, there was not a lot of areas that I said we were successful in and we discussed being better and tonight is all about the response.”