ARLINTON, VA — After a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils in their Home Opener, the Washington Capitals will look to bounce back against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. However, Vegas will likely prove to be a formidable opponent, starting the 2024-2025 season with a 3-0-0 record.

The Golden Knights averaged five goals in their three games, thanks in large part to a strong top line of Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery underscored the trio’s success after Tuesday morning’s skate.

“(They are an) elite team,” he said. “The top line is as good as – right now it’s a small sample size, but if you go back years – as good as, right up there with some of the top lines in the NHL with McDavid’s line, MacKinnon’s line, those guys . So (Jack) Eichel and Mark Stone, and (Ivan) Barbashev complimented them well and had a really good start. So it will be a handful.”

The trio has scored six goals and 14 points in five-on-five so far, with Eichel and Stone recording another four combined points on the power play. Washington’s bigger challenge, however, may come against Vegas’ strong defense. Carbery pointed to size and presence on the grid front as particular obstacles.

“Their D, what I find with them is one of the main reasons why I see why they are such a good defensive team: their D are all long and big,” he said. “And it’s very, very difficult to get to the interior against the Vegas Golden Knights. So they only control that space within the defensive zone in front of their net and in the dangerous scoring area. And they make it very, very difficult, A, to get in there, B, to get pucks in there, and C, to find a second chance in there.

“And they do a good job of getting into shot lanes. They do a great job in boxing. And then when a puck comes in, they are extremely difficult with numbers, under sticks. And usually it’s a one-time situation. So that is a recipe for great success.”

Washington and Vegas split their 2023-24 season series with two lopsided games: Charlie Lindgren posted a 3-0 shutout at home in November before Vegas posted a 4-1 win a month later.

Even against weaker defensive teams, Washington’s struggling offense weighed on much of last season. The lack of production led to an aggressive offseason adjustment, bringing in players like Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun and Andrew Mangiapane in hopes of higher scores. Still, Carbery believes that to beat Vegas, his team will have to choose their offensive moments wisely.

“You have to be willing to go (inland). And then you’ll have to put on your big boy pants tonight. And when we play Brayden McNabb and (Alex) Pietrangelo and (Noah) Hanifin, we’re going to have to be able to get in there with numbers, and you’re going to have to win some pucks. You’ll need to be able to find a secondary opportunity. Or maybe it’s a puck recovery, and then we get it back. You have to be very smart with the pucks you get in there.

‘If you throw in ‘half-hearted, underhanded sifters’, they usually go the other way. And they’re just going to transfer those pucks over. So you have to be very conscious about what you are going to shoot at the net. It doesn’t mean it has to go inside. It just can’t be something that they can just knock over and put in the other direction. Because they’re good at owning that space, and a lot of times they throw a puck in there, they get it, they block it with their shin pads, and it goes the other way. And your shift is over in the strike zone.”

The Capitals’ schedule won’t get much easier after Tuesday night’s game against the Golden Knights. Washington will play four of their remaining eight games in October against 2024 playoff teams, plus two more against the Philadelphia Flyers, who just eliminated the Capitals for a playoff spot in Game 82 of the regular season.

Washington will look to get their first win of the season when the puck drops against the Golden Knights at Capital One Arena at 7 p.m.