Today’s Metro Division match is the third meeting between the two teams this season; They have taken two-goal decisions, with each team winning on the road.
Caps coach Spencer Carberry says, “I really liked our game here (on October 11), and then (at home on October 31) didn’t like our game at all, even though it was tight.” “I thought we were really sloppy in that game. And so, like a tale of two games, we’re doing well here, and then not doing so well at home. So, we’ve got to correct some of those things, especially the most recent game.
“There are certain things that they do in particular that cause us problems. So, we’ll make sure we identify those and make sure we do what we need to do to do a better job today.”
In the last two meetings, each team has scored five goals. All five of Washington’s goals were scored at 5-on-5, while New York scored three special teams goals – two on the power play and one shorthanded – as well as one empty-net goal, and tallied just one at 5-on-5.
“It’s a big secret, that’s our strength as a group,” Carberry says of his team’s 5-on-5 game. “So no matter what team we play against, their special teams are a lot better than last year. Any time we can keep the game at 5-on-5, we feel comfortable.”
One pair will beat the whole house – Historically, whenever the Caps’ hockey operations department has been able to accomplish the rare feat of adding a top four defensemen in the same offseason, good things have come.
When newly appointed general manager David Poile made a six-player blockbuster swap with Montreal in 1982 to bring Rod Langway and Brian Engblom to the district, the Caps had never made the playoffs in their eight-season NHL history up to that point. But with that deal as a springboard – and Engblom’s trade to Los Angeles for Larry Murphy a year later – the Caps went on a run of 14 straight playoff appearances, the longest run of its kind in franchise history.
After taking over the GM position from George McPhee in the summer of 2014, Brian McClellan – now Washington’s president of hockey operations – added Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik as unrestricted free agents. Including five consecutive seasons with 100 or more points, as well as a pair of Presidents’ Trophies and the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2018.
In July 2024, MacLellan made a swap with Ottawa to acquire Jacob Chykrun, and they signed Matt Roy to a six-year deal as an unrestricted free agent. These two additions were crucial among the seven players the Caps brought in that summer, and the group of newcomers combined with the team’s returning core to lead a 20-point improvement over the previous season and win the team’s first playoff series since winning the Cup in 2018.
Chykrun has since signed an eight-year contract extension, and he and Roy are among 10 players the Caps have signed for at least two more seasons beyond the current season. Both players had excellent ’24-25 campaigns in their first seasons with Washington, and both have stepped it up a notch or two this season, and they’ve done so while playing together for the past month or so.
Last season, Chychrun logged over 600 minutes at 5-on-5 with Trevor van Riemsdyk and Roy did the same with Martin Fehrvary, who was his most frequent partner last season. Shortly after Rasmus Sandin – who had begun the season playing alongside Roy – was injured in the October 21 game with Seattle and missed the next five contests, Chykrun and Roy were paired and have been together ever since.
“Interestingly, it wasn’t that good last year,” Carberry said last week of the pairing. “So I was a little hesitant to put them together this year. I talked to both guys before the season, and asked them how they felt with each other, and this was even though we weren’t going to go with that pairing to begin with. Why do you think it didn’t work out? What could we do in the future if we potentially went to that pairing?
“I got some interesting information from them personally, because sometimes you watch film or you read numbers, but your best source is to go to people, and ask them how they feel on the ice and is there anything that speaks to why we’re successful, and why we’re not, and what we can do better to help in the future.”
Whatever they are doing is working brilliantly.
For the season, Chykrun has been on the ice with 32 goals at 5-on-5 in 25 games, second only to Colorado’s Cale Makar (33). And among defensemen who have logged at least 425 minutes of 5-on-5 duty to date – a group of 59 players as of this Sunday morning – Roy is tied with Makar for second-fewest goals against at 5-on-5, with just 10. Veteran Vegas defender Shea Theodore leads the way with nine.
These numbers also clearly reflect time spent with other partners. During their 233 minutes and 57 seconds on the ice as a duo, Chicrun and Roy made 20 saves on the ice and allowed only five goals, while controlling 60.32 percent of their shot attempts during that time.
On the surface, the pairing of Chychrun – a high-level, dynamic offensive talent with a shot bomb – with the more defensive-oriented Roy seems like a classic NHL defense pairing along the lines of Rob Blake and Matty Norrstrom with the Los Angeles Kings, along with many other examples. But this will sell both the players less.
Since entering the league as a precocious and rare 18-year-old blueliner, Chykrun has greatly improved his defensive skills. And Roy has displayed excellent puck moving ability, good decision making with the disc, and excellent instincts regarding when to pinch in the offensive zone and when to jump on the rush.
“I think it’s something that everyone is obsessed with,” Chykrun says of that conservative pairing. “I think there’s more to it than just pairing an offensive guy with a defensive guy. But it’s something people love to talk about.
“For me, I love playing with Matty. Matty’s a guy that when he plays with confidence, he plays very well with the puck and he has a very good game with the puck. And obviously, we all know how he defends and how hard he is to play against. Yeah, that’s an underrated side of his game. I think when he’s playing well, he wants the puck and he wants to play, and He wants to be creative and open up. And he’s really good at that, so I’ve definitely enjoyed playing with him and he’s a guy I’ve touched before, but I have a great relationship with him off the ice too, and that obviously goes a long way.
According to Money Puck, there are 45 defense pairings that have logged 225 or more minutes together at this point of the season, and the Chykrun duo leads them all with a 4.1 expected goals/60. They have controlled 60.2 percent of all shot attempts, second only to the Nate Schmidt/John Marino duo at Utah (62 percent).
“We were playing Chichi a lot with Reimer,” Carberry explains. “And we felt if we could get her in a spot where she got a real comfortable partner with Matt Roy, it felt like it strengthened our top four, and then it gives you a little bit of stability there. Let me give you an example. If Reimer comes out of the lineup, now Chichi has to play with a different partner again. So that’s why we went to that pairing, And congratulations to those guys, because they’ve been very, very effective, right from Jump Street to getting them together.
“I think they’ve built some good chemistry, I think some of the things that we’ve pointed out and talked about, I think they’ve taken to heart and really looked at, maybe why it wasn’t successful last year, and they’ve made some adjustments and done a really good job.
“So, a lot of credit goes to both of those guys, because Matt Roy flies under the radar, where Chichi gets a lot of the praise – goals, assists, power play time – where Matt Roy has done an excellent job this year in his role of not only being a really good puck mover and defender, but also enabling Jakob Chykrun to be productive offensively.”
In the nets – Logan Thompson was outstanding in earning his 10th win of the season over Toronto on Friday afternoon, making 20 saves and limiting the opposition to two or fewer goals for the 13th time in 17 starts this season.
Lifetime against the Islanders, Thompson is 3-2-1 with a 2.48 GAA and .913 save PCT. In six appearances, it all begins.
As for the Islanders, we’re hoping to see Ilya Sorokin between the pipes this afternoon. In eight October starts this season, Sorokin was 3-4-1 with a 3.40 GAA and .877 save PCT. In eight November starts, he is 4-3-1 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.01 GAA and a .926 save PCT.
Lifetime against Washington, Sorokin is 5-5-1 with a 2.28 GAA and .923 save PCT in 11 appearances (all starts).
All down the line – Here’s how the Capitals and Islanders could look in New York on Sunday afternoon:
Washington
Ahead
72-Beauvillier, 17-Strome, 8-Ovechkin
21-Protas, 34-Sourdiff, 43-Wilson
22-Duhaime, 24-McMichael, 9-Leonard
15-Milano, 29-Lapierre, 53-Français
defenseman
42-Fehrveri, 74-Carlson
6-chikrun, 3-roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
goaltender
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
healthy extra
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
87-Trineyev
injured/out
26-Doud (Upper Body)
80-Dubois (lower body)
new york
Ahead
27-Lee, 13-Barzal, 29-Drouin
51-Henemann, 14-Horvat, 49-Shabanov
10-Holmstrom, 64-Ritchie, 11-Duclair
32-McLean, 53-Cizikas, 7-Tsyplyakov
defenseman
48-Shaffer, 6-Pullock
3-Pelech, 77-DeAngelo
38-Mitchell, 24-Mayfield
goalkeeper
30-Sorokin
33-Rittich
healthy extra
16-Gatcombe
34-Bokvist
injured/out
21-Palmari (lower body)
28-Romanov (upper body)
40-Varlamov (lower body)
44-Pagu (Upper Body)
74-Bear (Undeclared)
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