WASHINGTON — For now, Jack Capuano has to know his coach-speak is ringing hollow.
As his Islanders begin a pivotal four-game road trip here Tuesday night against the surging Capitals, he has just six healthy defensemen on the roster. So his common refrain about earning a spot in the lineup, and about a player watching from the press box if his performance disappoints, is, for the time being, an impossibility.
On Monday, the team placed Brian Strait (upper-body) on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 24. Fellow top-four defenseman – as well as the quarterback of the once-explosive power play – Lubomir Visnovsky is also lingering on the IR with his concussion, out since the first period of a game against the Hurricanes on Oct. 19. Neither Strait or Visnovsky have even begun skating yet, and there is no indication of a timetable for either's return.
And yet with two talented prospects in Calvin de Haan and Aaron Ness playing big minutes for AHL Bridgeport, Capuano wasn't planning on a call-up.
"We discussed that little bit, but I don't foresee that right now," Capuano said after a high-paced practice at IceWorks on Monday. "We play a lot of hockey on this road trip [four games in six nights]. Bridgeport doesn't play for a week and they're going to go through hard practices. Right now, the plan is probably not to bring [up] somebody, but that could change, daily."
The good news is after some disappointing performances from his defensive corps, Capuano has gotten solid performances in the past two games –wins over two good teams in the Senators and Bruins, getting his team to 6-5-3.
In both games, rookie blueliner Matt Donovan was called on to play a larger role, and he has rebounded mightily after a stretch of four consecutive games just preceding the two wins when he was a combined minus-6.
"After those couple games, I lost all my confidence," Donovan told The Post. "I just needed to change. I felt like I needed to stop thinking and I just needed to play. And I think I've done that the last couple games, and I've kind of gotten back to my game."
Capuano called Donovan a "12-13 minute guy" last week, but knows he doesn't have the luxury of depth to bring along the 23-year-old at that pace. Instead, he's now getting close to 20 minutes a game, and Capuano's message of cutthroat accountability will have to wait.
"I'm just trying to work hard and progress every day and not think about if there are six D or eight D," Donovan said. "I'm just trying to work every day like I'm not in the lineup, like I have to earn a spot in the lineup."
Forward Colin McDonald (left hip) practiced fully on Monday and said he is ready to play after missing four in a row. "Hoping to get in," McDonald said about Tuesday, adding that it will be the coaches' decision.
Peter Regin missed practice because of a dental appointment. Rookie Brock Nelson took his spot as the third-line center, and Capuano inferred that's the way it might stay for Tuesday's game.
"Having guys out a couple days," Capuano said, referring to their day off Sunday, "we had a good pace today, so we'll decide on Regin's situation later."
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