WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals know that their lines are going to take some time to gel, and in turn, mistakes are bound happen here and there; they're just part of the game.
What coach Spencer Carbery hopes, though, is that when they do happen, the team can learn from them and use them to improve. And that's exactly the plan for young center Ilya Protas and his line with older brother, Aliaksei, and Jordan Kyrou, which struggled in Wednesday's home-opening win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Protas-Protas-Kyrou line was a minus-3, including both goals that made the 4-1 lead a 4-3 game as the Penguins took some momentum back in the second. The line also had a Corsi-for percentage of just 20 and a shots-for percentage of 16.67 over 7:39 minutes playing at 5-on-5.
"A little unlucky," Carbery said. "I don't love the stat line, but I don't think when I go back through the film, it's going to reflect that. I thought they did some good things... I thought their line was okay. I know minus-3, but like I said, I'll have to go back through the film and see how it looked."
While the line struggled, Carbery pointed out that it was a "great learning experience," especially for Ilya as he continues to get comfortable full-time at the NHL level.
One play Carbery did point to that he wants the 20-year-old to take a lesson from was the one that led to Pittsburgh's second goal soon after D.C. went up 4-1. Ilya had tried to keep the puck in the zone, leading to a turnover and 2-on-1 break for the Penguins that Tommy Novak ultimately converted on off a rebound.
"It's a tough play, and Little Pro learned from it just because time and score, that's the only thing," Carbery said. "Him at the blue line, he's covering for a D, puck's coming to him, he's trying to keep it in, he's doing the right thing... We've got a 4-1 lead, just cut bait and just back out and just play defense. He tries to keep it in, next thing you know, it goes off and it's a 2-on-1 and ends up in the back of our net, momentum change.
"In those situations, because of the time and score, it's a great learning experience for a young player," he added.
At the end of the day, Carbery knows that the lines will continue to need time playing together to find chemistry, and is confident that Ilya will get into a rhythm as the season plays out.
