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Burakovsky is ‘overthinking things,’ will be healthy scratch again

Andre Burakovsky

Andre Burakovsky

AP

Andre Burakovsky is only 20 years old. The fact he’s already played 71 games in the NHL is pretty impressive, considering the three players chosen before him in the 2013 draft have combined for just six.

But right now, Burakovsky’s having a bit of a struggle. Tonight against the Oilers, he’ll be a healthy scratch for the second straight game.

“He’s just got to clear his mind,” coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post. “He’s a young guy who’s thinking about a lot of things. I just talked to him about just worrying about his own game and not worrying about all the other stuff. He’s getting frustrated over things he doesn’t need to get frustrated over. He’s overthinking things, and what he needs to do is just concentrate on his own game.”

Stanislav Galiev, meanwhile, will remain in the lineup. The 23-year-old winger earned kudos from Trotz for his “pretty productive” performance in Saturday’s 7-3 win over Colorado. While Galiev didn’t score, he did have “some good looks,” according to his coach.

Prior to that, Galiev had been -- for lack of a better term -- “stuck” in the NHL, not quite good enough to crack the Caps’ lineup, but too valuable a prospect to risk losing on waivers.

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