The Washington Capitals held morning skate ahead of Friday night’s tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes (7:30 P.M. ET on NBC Sports Washington+ locally and NHL Network nationally). Here is the latest from PNC Arena.
Capitals
Forward Nic Dowd will draw into the lineup after missing Tuesday’s loss to the New York Islanders due to his wife going into labor. Nic and Paige welcomed a baby boy, Louie, on New Year’s Eve.
Defenseman Christian Djoos remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov will start for Washington.
Capitals expected lines vs Carolina:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Panik
Leipsic-Dowd-HathawaySiegenthaler-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Kempny-GudasSamsonov
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) January 3, 2020
Hurricanes
Goaltender Petr Mrazek will be in net for Carolina.
From our #Caps crew in Raleigh. #LetsGoCanes lines:
Svechnikov-Staal-Foegele
Niederreiter-Aho-Teravainen
Dzingel-Haula-Necas
McGinn-Wallmark-MartinookSlavin-Hamilton
Gardiner-Pesce
Fleury-EdmundsonMrazek#ALLCAPS
— Rob Carlin (@RobCarlinNBCS) January 3, 2020
2020 NHL All-Star Weekend
The coaches have been chosen! Capitals’ bench boss Todd Reirden will coach the Metropolitan Division during the All-Star Weekend in St. Louis on January 24-25. He is the first coach in Capitals history to coach multiple All-Star Games.
Defenseman John Carlson and goaltender Braden Holtby will also be representing the Capitals. Forward TJ Oshie has also been selected for the All-Star Game’s “Last Men In”. To vote Oshie in, click here. You can submit up to 10 ballots per 24-hours through January 10.
Joining Reirden is Bruce Cassidy (Boston Bruins), who will coach the Atlantic Division, Craig Berube (St. Louis Blues) for the Central Division, and coaching the Pacific Divison, Gerard Gallant (Vegas Golden Knights).
The coaches for the 2020 #NHLAllStar Game are set! pic.twitter.com/RrYAqxm5R0
— NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2020
Hear from Todd Reirden after it was made official that he will coach his second straight @NHL All-Star Game. #ALLCAPS #CapsAllStars pic.twitter.com/Z1Q59ra7n5
— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) January 3, 2020
The Goodest Boy: Daily Post on Captain
Remember that cute holiday video Captain and the Caps did? Captain shared some behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot.
some behind the scenessss from our holiday video shoot !! pic.twitter.com/POll8FDX9M
— Captain (@CapsPup) January 3, 2020
Superior Samsonov
CAPS TODAY: Expected to start tonight against Carolina, Ilya Samsonov is trying to become the second goaltender in NHL history to win each of his first eight starts on the road in his career. More info on Samsonov and the Caps at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/NWEjKukP3y
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 3, 2020
Weekly reCAP
Essential Links
NHL Numbers For 2019: Goals Continue To Rise (NoVa Caps)
Caps get another crack at Carolina, hope to end rare skid (Field Level Media)
Washington Capitals Monthly Prospect Report: December, 2019 (NoVa Caps)
Here’s where things stand halfway through the season!
Which matchup would you be most excited to see? pic.twitter.com/UIWBcoRdRn
— NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2020
