Kuznetsov dropped to third line by Capitals

ARLINGTON, Va. -- If the message about urgency wasn't clear when Todd Reirden gathered the players around him at the start of practice Saturday, it was by Washington Capitals coach's actions.

Reirden shuffled the Capitals' top three line combinations, including dropping struggling center Evgeny Kuznetsov to the third line with Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie were reunited on the top line and Lars Eller moved up from the third line to center the second line between Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson.
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Coming off a 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders and Barry Trotz, who coached them to the Stanley Cup last season, at home Friday, the Capitals (27-15-5) needed to change something before they face the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS).
They've lost four in a row (0-3-1) for the first time since March 6-12, 2017 and are 3-5-2 in their past 10. They haven't lost five in a row since Oct. 26-Nov. 4, 2014.
"Especially after last night, that was a tough loss and we know the implications of the game," Reirden said. "That was a game we would have liked to have been better in, so for me the response would be great to see tomorrow morning."
Reirden, who was promoted from associate coach when Trotz departed after last season, is facing the first significant stumbling block of his tenure. With their win Friday, the Islanders leapfrogged one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Capitals into first place in the Metropolitan Division, and the fourth-place Pittsburgh Penguins are one point behind the Blue Jackets and the Capitals.

It appears the much-talked about Stanley Cup hangover has finally arrived for the Capitals, who have looked tired and uninspired at times over their past 10 games.
"It seems like we're just a little off in a lot of areas of our game," Oshie said. "You take a lot of those little things and on the ice they end up in goals against, they end up in turnovers, they end up in kind of ugly games for us. So we've just to fine tune a couple things and we'll be OK."
The Capitals have scored one 5-on-5 goal and four total goals during their four-game losing streak. They hope changing the lines combinations will spark something.
"We'll see how we'll go tomorrow, but when you score four goals in the last four games, it's not good," Kuznetsov said. "We have to execute. We're pretty good players. We can play with anybody."
Kuznetsov is fourth on the Capitals with 38 points (eight goals, 30 assists) in 40 games, but has one goal and six assists in the past 15 games. He's scored one goal 5-on-5 all season.
"He's such an important part of our team," Reirden said. "We need him going on all cylinders to have success as a team and that's how it is with all of our key guys."
The Capitals have three games left before the break for the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game at SAP Center in San Jose on Jan. 26 (8 p.m. ET, NBC, SN, CBC, TVAS): at Chicago on Sunday, home against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. After the game in Toronto the Capitals don't play again until they host the Calgary Flames on Feb. 1.
"Three good teams we're going to face here and we should be ready for it and excited to play," Eller said. "Get the joy back our game offensively, the swagger, and at the same time playing a little bit better without the puck will help us get more offense too."