Following the Washington Capitals shootout loss to the Dallas Stars last Thursday night, Head Coach Spencer Carbery took to the podium to answer questions. As the questions came in, you could almost see the former player in him come to the surface as he broke down what went wrong.
Whether it was Washington’s “head-scratching mistakes”, or the odd-man rushes that left him saying, “What just happened there?” Carbery’s frustration came from knowing his team was better than the mistakes that cost them a big home win.
It wasn’t long ago that Carbery himself was on the ice as a player. He retired from playing in 2010 and started coaching that same year on the ECHL South Carolina Stingray staff. As the
youngest active NHL coach, Carbery has quickly established himself to be reliably candid about what he sees from his team. So, for those paying attention, you may have noticed a word Carbery used several times early in the season to describe his team.
That word was “character,” which perfectly describes the weekend the Capitals had after back-to-back wins against the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Capitals again rebounded from being up against the wall, shutting out the red-hot Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers 4-0 at home on Saturday night. Sonny Milano, Anthony Mantha, Tom Wilson, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel each found the net, while Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves on all 31 shots he faced.
“I thought right from puck drop tonight, first shift, we really set the tone, and everyone else followed,” Lindgren told reporters at his locker after the game. “It was a really good team effort tonight.”
Following the big win on Saturday, it was a quick turnaround to Chicago for a Sunday Night Road game against the Blackhawks. The Capitals would answer from being down 1-0 in the first period to steal a 4-2 win, completing their third straight sweep of back-to-back games this season.
Nic Dowd scored two goals, while former Chicago Blackhawk Dylan Strome scored his team-leading 11th goal of the year and third goal in three games. To cap off the night, Carbery awarded a puck to Joel Edmonson in the post-game locker room, who, thanks to an assist, scored his first NHL point.
For Washington, Sunday night marked their third straight game of 4 or more goals, and as a team, they have collected points in 15 of their last 20 games, a trend that signals good things ahead for Carbery’s squad.
“We’re starting to gain more confidence. Different guys are scoring. Different lines are starting to generate chemistry,” Carbery said on Sunday Night. “Now we’re starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm.”
The Capitals have a nice break in the schedule and will play again on Thursday against the Flyers, where they play their first of three road games over the next week. Puck drop in Philadelphia is at 7 PM EST.