Coming From A Higher Place – The Caps tangle with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at Capital One Arena in a battle for the top perch in both the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division standings. The Caps enter tonight’s game with a one-point lead over Carolina and having played one more game than Carolina to this point of the season.
Washington is coming in hot; the Caps are 10-1-1 in their last dozen games, and they’ve pulled at least a point from 12 of their last 13 contests (10-1-2). Carolina just finished a seven-game homestand with a 4-3-0 mark, and the Canes are starting a stretch in which they'll play five of their next six games on the road.
Despite playing without P-L Dubois since Oct. 31 and missing other key players for various amounts of time to this point of the campaign, the Caps have gotten contributions from up and down the lineup over the life of their current hot spell, and it's been enough to elevate them from the Metro basement on Nov. 14 to a precarious perch in the penthouse entering tonight's game with the Canes.
“Different guys, whether it’s Dylan McIlrath, Declan Chisholm, [Rasmus Sandin] playing some elevated minutes,” begins Caps coach Spencer Carbery, “Marty [Fehervary], Matt Roy, Jakob Chychrun; go down the list of all those guys.
“Up front, [Connor McMichael] stepping into playing center when Nic Dowd was out of the lineup. There’s a lot of different examples you could point to through the last little stretch. And when guys are out of the lineup, you need different players to assume potentially different roles, some guys to step into the lineup, and it tests your depth as an organization and as a team, and I think we’ve done a good job of that.
“Ethen Frank – another prime example – has an elevated role. And with [Ryan] Leonard out, will have an elevated role and opportunity; I thought he was excellent on the power play [Sunday vs. Columbus].
“There’s a bunch of different examples of us doing a good job with those added responsibilities and elevated roles for some guys when injuries have popped up, which is important, because every team goes through it. So you’re going to need guys and you’re going to be pushed to do that if you expect to win games when injuries do come up.”
First Taste Of Hurt – Last Friday night in Anaheim, rookie winger Ryan Leonard joined the list of the ailing when he was hammered with a high, hard hit behind the Anaheim net by Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba. Leonard, who had four points (two goals, two assists) in his previous game, left the ice bleeding but under his own power, and he did not return to the game. Leonard missed Sunday’s game with Columbus, the first game he has missed because of injury since turning pro last April.
After seeing local doctors upon the Caps’ return home from California, the team announced this morning that Leonard sustained a shoulder injury on the Trouba hit, and that his projected recovery time is 3-4 weeks. No surgery will be necessary.
“He'll be out for the foreseeable future, with the shoulder and he sustained some facial injuries as well,” says Carbery. “So like I said yesterday, it's not an ideal scenario, but it could have been worse, and he'll be back before you know it. Injuries are part of playing in the NHL, so he'll be back before you know it.
“Now it's on us to – like I said yesterday – continue to play to our standard with him out of the lineup and it’s also an opportunity to for some other guys to step into some of those roles, or the roles that he was playing, whether it's power play or 5-on-5, and take advantage of that opportunity.”
At the time of his injury, Leonard had piled up 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his last 10 games. The 20-year-old winger was seen this morning, watching his teammates from the bench and chatting with Carbery as well.
On the topic of injuries, John Carlson has missed each of the last three games with an upper body ailment, but he will be a game-time decision tonight. Carlson has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his last 14 games.
And goaltender Charlie Lindgren (upper body) was on the ice this morning as well. Lindgren last played a week ago last night in San Jose, and he is eligible to be activated whenever the Caps decide he’s ready to play again. Garin Bjorklund is currently up from AHL Hershey and serving as the Washington backup goaltender.
In The Nets – Coming off a 39-save shutout win – the 100th victory of his NHL career – on Sunday against Columbus, Logan Thompson is back between the pipes for Washington tonight. In his last six starts, Thompson is 5-0-1 with a shutout, a 1.52 GAA and a .955 save pct.
Thompson leads the NHL with an .810 quality start percentage (the third highest of any goalie with at least 20 starts since the stat started being tracked in 2007-08) and with 14 goals saved above average. He has limited opponents to two or fewer goals against in 16 of his 21 starts this season.
Lifetime against Carolina, Thompson is 1-2-0 in three appearances – all starts – with a 4.81 GAA and an .861 save pct.
Brandon Bussi gets the net for Carolina tonight. The Canes are one of a few teams lugging three goalies on their roster this season; the Hurricanes are also carrying veteran Freddie Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov.
Bussi was signed by the Bruins as an undrafted free agent following a stellar junior season at U. of Western Michigan in 2021-22. When Boston sent him back to AHL Providence at the outset of the 2024-25 season, it was a mild surprise when he cleared waivers and spent another full season with the Baby B’s. Bussi had a couple of recalls during his time with the Boston organization, but he saw no NHL action.
Last summer, Bussi signed as an unrestricted free agent with Florida. That signing was a hedge; the Cats had obtained goalie Daniil Tarasov from Columbus days before signing Bussi, who turned 27 days before signing with the Panthers. And when Florida tried to send Bussi to its AHL Charlotte affiliate near the end of training camp, Carolina intervened with a wise waiver claim on Oct. 5.
Andersen won four of his first five starts this season, but he is 2-7-2 since and has made consecutive starts just once since the end of October. Kochetkov is 4-1-0 this season, but he didn’t make his first appearance until Nov. 4 and has yet to receive consecutive starting assignments this season.
Tonight, Bussi starts for the second consecutive game – his second set of consecutive starts in the last couple of weeks – and for the fifth time in seven games. Coming off a 4-1 win over Columbus on Tuesday, Bussi seeks his eighth consecutive victory tonight in Washington.
Bussi has won nine of his first 10 NHL starts, joining Andersen (2013-14), Igor Shesterkin (2019-20), Bob Froese (1982-83) and Frankie “Mr. Zero” Brimsek (1938-39) as just the fifth goaltender in League history to win nine games in his first 10 appearances.
Carolina has outshot its opposition in 25 of its 29 games this season (s/t Carter Myers), and Bussi has faced more than 30 shots on net just once in his 10 starts. Given their style and their proclivity for puck possession, the Canes don’t need otherworldly goaltending, and Bussi has been plenty good enough to this point of the season.
He will be making his first career start and appearance against the Capitals.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Capitals and the Hurricanes might look on Thursday night in DC:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
24-McMichael, 17-Strome, 8-Ovechkin
21-Protas, 34-Sourdif, 43-Wilson
72-Beauvillier, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
22-Duhaime, 29-Lapierre, 15-Milano
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
68-Bjorklund
Healthy Extras
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
87-Trineyev
Injured/Out
9-Leonard (upper body)
79-Lindgren (upper body)
80-Dubois (lower body)
CAROLINA
Forwards
37-Svechnikov, 20-Aho, 24-Jarvis
27-Ehlers, 22-Stankoven, 53-Blake
28-Carrier, 11-Staal, 48-Martinook
71-Hall, 77-Jankowski, 50-Robinson
Defensemen
19-Miller, 26-Walker
4-Gostisbehere, 5-Chatfield
21-Nikishin, 64-Nystrom
Goalies
32-Bussi
31-Andersen
Healthy Extras
6-Reilly
52-Kochetkov
Injured/Out
62-Legault (hand)
74-Slavin (lower body)
82-Kotkaniemi (lower body)
