Martin Fehervary was back on the ice Friday and is expected to be in the lineup when the Capitals meet the Florida Panthers on Saturday. He had sat out the previous practice day for maintenance, but Spencer Carbery said he would play.
That matters because the Capitals are heading into their first meeting with the Panthers this season with only six defensemen available. They are trying to steady themselves after dropping two games in a row, and Fehervary’s return gives them a little more room against a team that can force mistakes fast.
Carbery did not try to dress up the challenge. He said the Panthers keep a consistent identity night to night and are easy to pre-scout because their forwards and defensemen stay on the same page in every situation. He added that the Capitals will need to keep Florida in their own zone as little as possible and try to stop pucks from getting to the high-danger area.
The roster squeeze has been there since Sunday, when the Capitals acquired goaltender Rémi Poirier and sent down Dylan McIlrath to fit him under the 23-man roster limit. That left little margin on defense, which is why Fehervary’s return is more than routine maintenance news. Against a Florida team missing Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand because of knee injuries, Washington still has to manage a game that can turn on one clean entry or one missed rotation.
There was also work behind the scenes on the details that can decide a tight game. Boone Jenner, Ilya Protas and Anthony Beauvillier stayed on the ice after practice with Scott Allen to work on faceoffs, something Carbery said happens every single day. The Capitals know what is coming on Saturday. What they do not know is how long they can keep six defensemen intact if the game gets difficult early.
