After spending the past two games with the AHL’s Hershey Bears on a conditioning stint, defenseman Christian Djoos will return to the lineup for the Washington Capitals when they host the Florida Panthers on Saturday night (7 PM on NBC Sports Washington). He has missed the past 23 games after undergoing thigh surgery on December 14. The 24-year old has four assists and a +6 rating in 28 games this season. He’ll skate on the third defensive pairing with Brooks Orpik against the Panthers.
Reirden confirms Djoos will return tonight.
— JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) February 9, 2019
Defenseman Michal Kempny will be good to go against Florida after taking a maintenence day yesterday due to a swolen right eye. He said his vision is a lot better than it was yesterday.
Caps D Michal Kempny said his right eye swelled up yesterday and he couldn’t see out of it. Swelling is gone and he said his vision is good today, but he has a bit of a black eye.
He needed three stitches under eye after being struck in face with puck in warmup Thursday.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 9, 2019
The Capitals will have their lineup at full strength for the first time this season.
Caps expected lineup:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly
Jaskin-Dowd-BoydKempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-DjoosHoltby to start
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 9, 2019
Capitals Today
CAPS TODAY: Following his conditioning assignment with the Hershey Bears, Christian Djoos has returned to the Capitals. More info on Djoos and the Capitals at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/sw8cLtbi4F
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 9, 2019
By Harrison Brown
