Defenseman Madison Bowey, center Travis Boyd, and forward Chandler Stephenson will each draw back into the lineup for the Washington Capitals‘ game against the Colorado Avalanche at Capital One Arena on Thursday night (7 PM on NBC Sports Washington). Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, center Nic Dowd, and forward Dmitrij Jaskin draw out of the lineup. More news from the Capitals’ morning skate can be found below:
Capitals head coach Todd Reirden told reporters that defenseman Christian Djoos, who has missed the past 23 games after undergoing thigh surgery on December 14, will likely get called up from the AHL’s Hershey Bears before the team’s game on Saturday against the Florida Panthers. He will likely make his return to the lineup then.
Reirden said Djoos will return to Washington sometime today, and he’s “an option” to play on Saturday vs. Florida.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 7, 2019
Goaltender Pheonix Copley will start against the Avalanche on Thursday night. After going 10-1-2 in a 13-game span, the 26-year old has dropped each of his past three starts in regulation, posting a save percentage of .825 and giving up 14 goals in that span. He made 24 saves in the Capitals’ 3-2 overtime win over Colorado on November 16.
👮♂️ starting #CapsAvs pic.twitter.com/WULY6JBYYT
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 7, 2019
The Other Side
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov will start for the Avalanche. Former Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer spoke to reporters about returning to Capital One Arena for the first time since getting traded to Colorado at the draft last summer after the Avalanche’s morning skate.
Grubauer on being back in DC:
“It’s nice to be home and nice to see some familiar faces and talk to a couple guys over on the other side. It’s nice to see the banner. I looked at it a couple times. It’s incredible.”
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 7, 2019
Capitals Lines vs. Avalanche
Caps at morning skate:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly
Stephenson-Boyd-DSPKempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Bowey— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 7, 2019
Capitals Today
CAPS TODAY: With an assist in his last game, Alex Ovechkin became the all-time leader in points among Russian-born players. More info on Ovechkin’s accomplishment and the Capitals at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/mm3NL9AQdo
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 7, 2019
By Harrison Brown
