Nick Jensen skated as the extra defenseman in the Washington Capitals‘ morning skate on Saturday morning after Martin Fehervary, who was solid in the team’s 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. That signals that Jensen will be a healthy scratch against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington). Fehervary took Jensen’s spot on the second defensive pairing and will start on the left side.
After flipping forwards Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie in the top-six, leading to a three-goal outburst in the final seven minutes of Tuesday’s win, head coach Todd Reirden kept it that way.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov was back on the second power-play unit and forward Jakub Vrana was on the first after they flipped spots at Thursday’s practice. Captain Alex Ovechkin was back on the left side as was the case on Thursday.
Goaltender Braden Holtby will start against the Flyers and Reirden said the plan was to start Ilya Samsonov against the New York Islanders on Monday but that’s subject to change. Brian Elliott will man the crease for the black and orange.
Ovechkin, who is two goals away from 700 in his career, said he doesn’t care if his 700th is an empty-netter.
Asked Alex Ovechkin if he cared if career goal No. 700 was an empty-netter:
“For me, it doesn’t matter: empty-netter, from my head, from my leg. It doesn’t matter. It’s still a goal.”
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 8, 2020
The Flyers did not hold a morning skate. The news from their side heading into tonight’s tilt can be found here.
Capitals’ Lines vs. Flyers
Capitals expected lines vs Flyers:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Hagelin-Eller-Panik
Leipsic-Dowd-HathawayKempny-Carlson
Orlov-Fehervary
Siegenthaler-Gudas*Fehervary in for Jensen
*Oshie and Wilson flip lines— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 8, 2020
Caps Today
CAPS TODAY: Alex Ovechkin, with 14 goals over his last seven games, is two goals shy of joining the 700 goal club. He and the Capitals face the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. More info on https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/6Q6TGDkIlp
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 8, 2020
By Harrison Brown
