Beagle Centering Ovie

The Caps gained 5 out of 6 points on their California road trip. I didn't think they had it in them, but stronger goaltending helps. Jaroslav Halak saved 45 shots in Anaheim. They're a team teetering on the edge of making the playoffs or going home. Sometimes they play like it. Sometimes they don't, but they surprised me on this road trip so I'll take it one game at a time.

Capitals Coach Adam Oates road trip strategy continued with some recently used and surprising line combinations, like Jay Beagle centering Alex Ovechkin. Some of his line shuffling is due to injuries to centers and two-way players Mikhail Grobovski and Brooks Laich and some of it is due to the Caps desperate needs for wins and points. On this road trip, the strategy worked from the perspective that Ovie ended up even in plus/minus versus -2 for each of his two prior games against Toronto and Vancouver.

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Let's go Caps!