T.J. Oshie on the Caps' third line of Sheary-Eller-Panik:
"Those guys were horses tonight. Shears with his efforts and his strides. Richie over there is a thoroughbred and Lars is a horse and a moose coming through there in the middle."— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 17, 2021
To win in the NHL these days, a team needs more than just a “top six” who contribute, they need at least a “top nine” - three lines that can carry the bulk of the scoring burden. (Just imagine where the Caps’ 2018 Cup run would’ve ended without getting offense from Lars Eller, Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly.