Finishing Touches – Tonight, the Caps conclude their five-game homestand with the first of their four meetings this season with Metropolitan Division rival Philadelphia. The Caps have won three of the first four games of the homestand, and they’ll be seeking to finish with a flourish tonight against the Flyers in a game that is also the front end of a set of back-to-backs. The Caps travel to Nashville immediately after tonight’s game; they have a Thursday night date against the Predators in Music City.
First though, their focus is on Philly, which shook off an abysmal start on home ice Tuesday against Columbus. Yielding three first-period goals to the Jackets in a span of 2:46 while managing just two shots on net of their own in the period, the Flyers battled back with a pair of third-period goals to force overtime, where they fell 4-3 on Kent Johnson’s second goal of the game.
Caps coach Spencer Carbery expects the Flyers to be committed to a much stronger start tonight as they face another Metro Division foe.
“If you look at what happened last night and you watch the game, here's what's coming out of their camp, I guarantee you, before the game,” says Carbery of the Flyers. “First period [has to be better], and ride the momentum of the second and third [from last night], right? And so that's what we have to be [ready for]; the start is going to be critical for our team tonight, of making sure that we're ready because they feel really good about their second and third periods, so they'll try to ride that in less than 24 hours, and then they'll also be saying the start, the start, the start, the start was unacceptable last night. So, you know what the start is going to look like tonight.”
Change Partners – Ten games into the 2026-27 season, Caps defenseman Cole Hutson has logged at least 15 even-strength minutes playing with half a dozen different partners: Martin Fehervary (51:58), Vincent Desharnais (26:45), Timothy Liljegren (25:26), Justin Holl (21:10), Jakob Chychrun (18:30) and Dylan McIlrath (15:25).
With both Rasmus Sandin and Desharnais on injured reserve and with Matt Roy missing a couple of weeks of action early in the season, the Caps have deployed eight different defensemen this season, and that number will climb to nine tonight when Jack St. Ivany makes his debut with the Caps against the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft.
The 27-year-old St. Ivany will be partnered with Hutson tonight, and the Caps are hoping that partnership flourishes and thrives until Washington’s back end returns to peak health.
For St. Ivany, tonight’s assignment is one he couldn’t have foreseen at this time last week when he was a member of the Winnipeg Jets, getting ready for Sunday’s Heritage Classic outdoor game against the Montreal Canadiens in Winnipeg.
“My girlfriend lives in New York City,” St. Ivany begins. “She's in finance; she works for Citibank. She actually traveled out to Winnipeg to watch the outdoor game, and they had a bunch of festivities. So, she was going out there for that. And my parents were going to fly out as well, if I was playing in the game. And I was the seventh [defenseman] there, so they ended up not coming, and I got put on waivers on Friday.
“So, [my girlfriend] was about to take off, and I was like, ‘Hey, don't even come out. I don't know what is going to happen; I'm either going to be playing for the [AHL] Manitoba Moose on the road, or I'll be getting picked up somewhere.’
She's like, ‘No, I'm coming. I already paid for the flight and we’ve got to see each other.’ So she came out, and then the next day you're kind of just sitting and waiting. And I talked to my agent, and they talk to teams, and so they give you an insight of if you're getting picked up, and you never know with these type of things. So, when I got that call, it's the most excited I've been in a long time to be able to speak with Chris Patrick, the GM here. I was through the roof, and [Kevin] Cheveldayoff, the GM in Winnipeg, he's a great, great guy as well. So, he told me I was claimed by Washington, and it was just an instant and quick celebration. And then I’m on the phone with team ops here 20 minutes later, and I'm on a flight to DC [Sunday] morning. So, it's a quick turnaround.”
Tonight, days after arriving in the District, St. Ivany will suit up wearing No. 29 and he will become Hutson’s seventh defense partner of the young season.
“The staff has been great at trying to speed me up, and trying not to throw too much at me at one time,” says St. Ivany. “I did some video [Monday and Tuesday]. I got to learn some of the systems, and obviously every day the team does some meetings. So, I’m drawing what I can from that, and on the ice practices, and just trying to be a sponge and pick up from the guys.
“And the room has been great. Everyone's unbelievable people and really welcoming and asking if I need help with certain things. [Pierre-Luc Dubois] invited me over for dinner [Monday] night. So it's just been a quick learning process, and you’ve just got to be ready for whatever. And I think at the end of the day, if I fall back on my competitive nature, that's all you have to focus on.”
Following Wednesday’s morning skate, Carbery discussed Hutson’s many partners and the effect it could have on him.
“I think Cole is the type of defenseman – if there is one; well, there is one – that it's easier for him to play with a bunch of different people. Left sticks, right sticks and different molds of defensemen; your stay-at-home Vinny Desharnais, but he also has looked really good with Jakob Chychrun, [a pair that is comprised of] two lefties, both offensive-minded. [Hutson] knows what he needs to do inside of his game, and his partner is more, for the most part, reading off of him.”
In a follow up query, Carbery notes that it’s more important for Hutson’s partner – so, St. Ivany tonight – to be aware of Hutson and his unique abilities, capabilities and tendencies, and to be able to read and adapt off what the talented 20-year-old is doing at any given time on the ice.
“One hundred percent,” says Carbery. “And that's what I talked to Jack St. Ivany about was that exact point. He has to know that there are going to be certain situations where you're going to have to read off of Cole because Cole has a unique skill set that not a lot of [defense] partners – that you've played with Jack – have. And so he's going to do some things that [make] you go, ‘Whoa, I didn't know he would be there, and that's where it's different than his maybe left shot partner that he played with majority of the year in [Pittsburgh], Ryan Shea.
“Cole is going to be in some different spots, and so he just has to be aware of that. It doesn't change his game; you just have to be aware and watching for those scenarios where Cole has used his instincts to do something, and it's put him in a position that is not the norm.”
St. Ivany is a well-educated – two years each at Yale and Boston College – and obviously bright kid. Across his 57 games of NHL experience, he has averaged 15:30 per night in ice time, and the Caps would be thrilled of he can give them that many consistently reliable minutes as they wait for Sandin and Desharnais to get healthy.
“Just solid, reliable minutes,” says Carbery. “Nothing other than that. Just defend well; he has a big body, good stick. If he gets an opportunity to get out on the penalty kill, give us some good minutes there. Move pucks well and defend well.”
In The Nets – After missing Saturday’s game with Buffalo because of a lower body injury, Although Carbery termed him a “game-time decision” following Wednesday’s morning skate, we expect Logan Thompson to return to the crease for Washington tonight against the Flyers. Washington loaned goaltender Mitch Gibson to AHL Hershey on Wednesday afternoon, a strong indication that Thompson is ready to return to action.
After winning each of his first three starts of the season, Thompson has dropped three of four since. Most recently, he stopped 21 of 25 shots he faced in a 5-2 loss to Los Angeles on Oct. 20 in the second game of the team’s current homestand.
Lifetime against the Flyers, he is 4-1-1 in six appearances – all starts – with a 2.84 GAA and an .896 save pct.
Dan Vladar was in net for Philly in last night’s overtime loss to Columbus, so we’re expecting to see ex-Toronto netminder Joseph Woll in the nets for the Flyers tonight. Woll is in his first season with Philly; he was obtained in a four-player swap with Toronto in June of this year.
In his first seven appearances – all starts – with the Flyers, Woll is 1-4-2 with a 2.99 GAA and a .904 save pct. Lifetime against the Capitals, he is 4-2-0 in six appearances – all starts – with a 2.35 GAA and a .913 save pct. Among all NHL teams, Woll has more wins against only Calgary and Tampa Bay (five each) than he has against Washington.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps might look – and how the Flyers looked at home on Tuesday against Columbus – when Philadelphia comes to town for the finale of Washington’s five-game homestand:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
89-Tuch, 17-Strome, 25-Kyrou
21-A. Protas, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
8-Ovechkin, 62-I. Protas, 72-Beauvillier
22-Jenner, 34-Sourdif, 9-Leonard
Defense
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
42-Fehervary, 27-Liljegren
44-Hutson, 29-St. Ivany
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Injured/Out
38-Sandin (lower body)
48-Thompson (lower body)
73-Desharnais (appendectomy)
Healthy Extras
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
63-Miroshnichenko
PHILADELPHIA
Forwards
46-Zegras, 22-Dvorak, 55-Acciari
94-Martone, 27-Cates, 39-Michkov
20-Bump, 14-Couturier, 71-Foerster
58-Bunting, 86-Barkey, 54-Knuble
Defense
6-Sanheim, 59-Bonk
8-York, 19-McDonald
24-Seeler, 9-Drysdale
Goaltenders
53-Woll
80-Vladar
Injured/out
11-Konecny (lower body)
29-Grebenkin (upper body)
55-Ristolainen (upper body)
74-Tippett (upper body)
Healthy Extras
5-Jiricek
44-Benoit
78-Gaucher
