Photo: Sports Illustrated

The Washington Capitals made some changes in their defensive pairings when they practiced on Wednesday, most notably elevating defenseman Nick Jensen to a pairing with John Carlson, giving the team a pair with two right-handed defensemen. Defenseman Christian Djoos got demoted to the third-pairing next to Brooks Orpik, a duo featuring two left-handed defensemen.

So that’s two righties together in one pair (Carlson-Jensen) and two lefties (Orpik-Djoos).

But that’s probably the best alignment for Capitals with Kempny out. https://t.co/ysKVbueL1F

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 3, 2019

Forward Dmitrij Jaskin, who has not played since a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on February 17, dressed as an extra defenseman during practice.

Today at Caps practice ….

Dmitrij Jaskin is dressed as a defenseman.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 3, 2019

The Capitals took their team photo before practice, where assitant athletic trainer Mike Booi dressed in defenseman Michal Kempny‘s gear. The team will photoshop Kempny’s head and place it in the photo. Kempny will miss the next 4-6 months after undergoing hamstring surgery yesterday.

Capitals team photo today. That’s Mike Booi, assistant athletic trainer, at right end of second row filling in for the injured Michal Kempny (they’ll Photoshop in his head) pic.twitter.com/xhihG7gtSH

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 3, 2019

Caps Today

CAPS TODAY: The Capitals are looking to clinch their fourth straight Metropolitan Division title. More info on the Caps at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/PWu8iz5XBk

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 3, 2019

By Harrison Brown