The sight of Evgeny Kuznetsov clutching his left arm and leaving the ice after a hit from Brayden McNabb isn’t as big a threat to the
Washington Capitals‘ title hopes as it might seem.
Not after the Capitals withstood three games without Nicklas Backstrom. Not after they missed Kuznetsov for most of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and
still beat the Vegas Golden Knights to tie the series.
They’d love to have their leading scorer in the lineup Saturday night in Washington
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handle life without Kuznetsov if it comes to that.
”We’ve had some guys been out here and there these playoffs,” Backstrom said. ”It’s hard to replace Kuznetsov the way he’s been playing, but if that’s the
case it is what it is and we just have to have other guys step up.”
Coach Barry Trotz provided no update on Kuznetsov on Thursday other than to say the Russian center is day to day. The team practices again Friday.
It didn’t look very good for Kuznetsov when he went down the tunnel in the first period Wednesday night and didn’t return. But Ovechkin scored his first
career Stanley Cup Final goal on the power play, and Lars Eller, bumped up the
lineup to fill in for Kuznetsov, had a goal and two assists.
No one player can make up for the potential loss of Kuznetsov, who has 11 goals and 14 assists in 21 playoff games, though Washington’s depth down the
middle looks solid with Backstrom, Eller, Jay Beagle and, if need be, Chandler
Stephenson. Eller played a key role in two big victories against Tampa Bay in
the Eastern Conference final without Backstrom
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”Nick has gone out or Kuzy has been out, Lars has elevated his game and comes up in a more prominent role,” Trotz said. ”I think he embraces the challenge. He
takes the moments very seriously that he has to step up and try to find a way to
produce, and he has. He’s a veteran player who has good hockey sense, and he’s
strong on the puck, and I think his game translates well in the playoffs.”
It doesn’t hurt that the Capitals can lean on Ovechkin in times of need, and they have received strong performances from top-six wingers Tom Wilson, T.J.
Oshie and Jakub Vrana and defenseman John Carlson.
It’s the kind of production Vegas is looking for from its top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. Going on the road
means coach Gerard Gallant can’t pick matchups, so he’s counting on his best
players to play like it.
”I don’t care who they play against,” Gallant said. ”We’re going to play well and work hard and compete hard. (Wednesday) night they didn’t have the offensive
outburst they usually have. You’re not going to be at your best every night. I
expect them to be really good for us like they have all season long.”
Gallant tipped his hat to the Capitals, saying they deserved to win Game 2 based on how they performed after losing Kuznetsov. It would be more difficult
to sustain that effort and adrenaline for an entire game without him, though
it’s a test they passed without Backstrom earlier in the playoffs.
”It’ll be a big loss
Kendall Lamm Jersey , but as you saw in the Pittsburgh series when Nick went down, sometimes that kind of energizes some other guys to get in there and
be able to make some plays,” Oshie said. ”So we’ll roll with the punches.”
Rolling with the punches has become somewhat of the Capitals’ identity this season and into the playoffs. They got some more in the form of a ground stop at
the airport after they landed on Thursday as lightning kept them from getting
off the plane.
Trotz considers it just another roadblock for his team to get over.
”Our guys are fine,” he said. ”It’s another layer of adversity that we have to go through all the time.”
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More Stanley Cup coverage: Cornerback Prince Amukamara appreciated the give and take with new Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy at Tuesday’s practice.
For the defense, as non-contact organized team activities began there was a lot of taking – and then they really gave it to Nagy and his fledgling
offense.
”He’s an offensive coach and last year coach (John) Fox, I couldn’t really talk stuff to because he’s a defensive coach,” Amukamara said. ”And it’s like
Nagy’s offense, so if I get a pick or something … I like to talk stuff to
him.”
The idea for the defense since offseason started was maintaining continuity with players and with coaches, even while the head coach had changed.
The addition of a few new pieces hasn’t hurt, and now defensive players believe they have what’s needed to improve on last year when they ranked 10th
overall.
And Nagy is also a believer, even if he and offensive players are getting kidded at practice from Amukamara or defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
”Right now there’s a trust from one another because they’ve been together,” Nagy said. ”There’s that experience factor, which is good. And they believe what
they’ve got going on with Vic’s system.
”When you have that
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improve on, and that’s what they’re doing right now.”
Linebacker Danny Trevathan pointed to the retention of Fangio as a key. Fangio re-signed after his bid to become head coach was denied following Fox’s
firing.
”I was excited to have Vic back,” Trevathan said. ”I was kind of nervous about him leaving. I feel like I really wanted him back.
”He’s one of our leaders and he’s one of the guys we can go to for calls and advice on things.”
Keeping the entire starting secondary together was also important. The Bears could have lost starting cornerback Kyle Fuller or his good friend Amukamara as
free agents, but retained both.
Amukamara pointed to Seattle’s ability to keep Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor together as an example of what familiarity can do for a
secondary.
”So when you have that continuity and the language stays the same, meaning the plays, it just becomes second nature,” Amukamara said. ”Guys play faster.
Guys know what to expect.
”They know how teams are going to attack them and all that is a recipe for success.”
Although intact, the Bears secondary has problems to correct. They’ve made a franchise record low of eight interceptions each of the last three seasons.
”I think personally on the back end it’s our job to take the ball away,” Amukamara said. ”I think we had our opportunities last year and just needed to
capitalize on them.
”And I would say that for the most part, just taking the ball away, I think we did a great job last year. I think we were (third) at forcing fumbles and
recovering them. So I think this year
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One change the defense did make is drafting inside linebacker Roquan Smith in the first round to challenge Trevathan and Nick Kwiatkoski for playing time.
Trevathan realizes Smith threatens his job security, but also thinks the extra speed and depth is something the defense lacked..
”We got the right guy to fit our defense,” Trevathan said. ”He’s working his tail off and he fits in with our linebacker group.”
Nagy appreciated Smith’s quickness defending one pass play on the outside.
A forced turnover a few minutes later had the defense chortling, while Nagy had to address his offense.
”We like that because that’s the kind of defense we are,” Trevathan said. ”We’re going to be in your face making plays, but at the same time we’re having
fun and we’re all getting better at the same time.”
NOTES: Outside linebacker Aaron Lynch returned to practice after suffering an ankle injury at the April 17-19 minicamp. . After offseason surgery, right guard
Kyle Long was able to participate in the offense’s installation, but did not
take part in scrimmage. Nagy said it’s likely Long will stay at right guard.
Last year some thought had been given to playing Long at left guard. … Wide
receiver Allen Robinson is still sidelined while rehabbing a torn ACL. Nagy
called Robinson ”ahead of the game” with his recovery.
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