Center Nic Dowd will draw back into the lineup for the Washington Capitals when they visit the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday night (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington) after he sat out in the team’s 3-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday in favor of center Travis Boyd. Dowd will center the fourth-line.

#ALLCAPS today as they get ready for a weekend road trip to the northeast.

Coach Reirden likes to implement mini-games into practice, this looks to be a player favorite, I’m a fan of it pic.twitter.com/cAMIpRnHsI

— Chip Brierre (@Chip_Brierre) December 19, 2019

Goaltender Ilya Samsonov will get the net in New Jersey on Friday for his first career start against the Devils. Braden Holtby will start on Saturday night when the Capitals host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Capitals’ Lines at Devils

Capitals lines at practice:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Panik
Leipsic-Boyd/Dowd*-Hathaway

Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Siegenthaler-Gudas

*Boyd took first rush at 4C, Dowd took 2nd rush, but Reirden said Wed Dowd was going to play @ NJD on Fri

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) December 19, 2019

Interviews

Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson comment on Nicky & Ovi’s 900th career game played together. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/sOV5LRertU

— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) December 19, 2019

NHL News

• Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard was fined $1,957.89, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for boarding Chicago Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat on Wednesday night
• The Winnipeg Jets claimed goaltender Eric Comrie off of waivers from the Detroit Red Wings
• The San Jose Sharks claimed forward Stephan Noesen off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins

Capitals Today

CAPS TODAY: The Capitals head back on the road tomorrow with the NHL’s best road record. More info on https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/wuFazlsEQI

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 19, 2019

By Harrison Brown