The Washington Capitals will not make any line changes against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington), head coach Todd Reirden said after their optional morning skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov will make his second consecutive start in net. Reirden added that the Capitals’ 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes after making the morning skate optional on Monday was part of the reason why he made today’s one optional.
Reirden said that the Capitals have yet to decide whether captain Alex Ovechkin will serve his mandatory one-game suspension for skipping the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis next weekend on Saturday at the New York Islanders or Monday, January 27 at the Montreal Canadiens. He hinted that the decision should be finalized after tonight’s game and having Ovechkin for Saturday afternoon’s game was the direction they were leaning towards.
Devils center Jack Hughes, who left the team’s 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday due to illness, participated in their morning skate which means that he should play against the Capitals.
Center Kevin Rooney missed the Devils’ morning skate due to illness and will be a game-time decision.
Goaltender Louis Domingue, who made 33 saves in the Devils’ 5-1 win over the Capitals on Saturday, will start for the black and red tonight.
Capitals’ Lines vs. Devils
Capitals’ Wednesday practice lines:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Panik
Leipsic-Dowd-HathawayKempny-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Siegenthaler-Gudas— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) January 15, 2020
Devils’ Lines at Capitals
Devils at morning skate:
Wood-Hischier-Bratt
Zacha-Hughes-Simmonds
Coleman-Zajac-Gusev
Boqvist- *no center-HaydenGreene-Subban
Severson-Vatanen
Butcher-Carrick
MuellerDomingue
Schneider*Rooney is ill and will be game-time decision.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) January 16, 2020
Capitals Forward Carl Hagelin sat with Mike Vogel for an interview following today’s morning skate:
🎥 @CarlHagelin sits down with @vogscaps to chat bye week, #CapsDevils, and Nicklas Backstrom pic.twitter.com/VyEdzwRbO2
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 16, 2020
Capitals Today
CAPS TODAY: With a win tonight, Ilya Samsonov would set a franchise record for most consecutive wins as a rookie. More info on Samsonov and the Caps at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/mXPomlTTuK
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 16, 2020
By Harrison Brown
A big credibility game for $500/hr Future Hall of Famer Washington Capitals Head Coach Todd Reirden.
Will tonight’s Caps be A) Timid, stupid, slow and chokey like the past six weeks, or B) The Caps we saw in November, chewing up the rest of the NHL?
Finally Samsonov gets consecutive starts. Thought we’d have to wait until Solar Cycle 26 to see it. Go Sammy!
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I think Gudas is ok and am interested in knowing what he is looking for as a free agent