Evgeny Kuznetsov In, Brendan Leipsic Out; Brenden Dillon To Start With John Carlson – Canadiens at Capitals Pregame Notebook

Center Evgeny Kuznetsov will return against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington locally or NBCSN nationally) after missing the Washington Capitals’ three-game road trip with a lower-body injury. He will play in his normal spot on the second-line. With Kuznetsov returning, forward Brendan Leipsic will come out of the lineup and forward Travis Boyd will drop from the third to the fourth-line.

Defenseman Brendan Dillon, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 conditional third, will make his Capitals debut on Thursday and play on the top-pairing with John Carlson. Michal Kempny bumped down to the third pairing with Radko Gudas and Jonas Siegenthaler will draw out of the lineup.

Brenden Dillon’s (@BDillon04) first media availability after arriving in the Washington. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/a1eg4XhZCQ

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 20, 2020

Dillon also took Siegenthaler’s spot on the first penalty-killing unit with Gudas. Siegenthaler leads the Capitals with an average of 3:06 per game on the penalty kill, which ranks fourth in the NHL with an 83.9% efficiency.

Dowder asking the tough questions.

…and nice mic 😂 pic.twitter.com/mazm6UIs1J

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 20, 2020

Goaltender Braden Holtby will make his fourth straight start and sixth straight appearance against the Canadiens. Excluding an appearance against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 8 where he allowed seven goals on 25 shots, the 30-year-old has allowed only 10 goals on 135 shots (.926 save percentage) during that stretch.

Goaltender Carey Price will start in net for the Canadiens on Thursday.

Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said that it is more likely than not that forward Brendan Gallagher, who missed their 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings due to a lower-body injury, will be a game-time decision tonight.

Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete will miss tonight’s game after blocking a shot with his foot against the Red Wings. Julien said that the x-ray is negative, but Mete will need further evaluation when the team returns to Montreal.

Forward Paul Byron, who has not played since the Canadiens’ last visit to Washington on November 15 due to a knee injury, will return for the Canadiens.

Out of town, the New Jersey Devils will hold out goaltender Louis Domingue, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, against the Sharks tonight and put him on waivers this afternoon. The NHL Trade Deadline is on Monday at 3 PM ET.

Capitals’ Lines vs. Canadiens

Capitals expected lines vs Montreal:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Panik
Boyd-Dowd-Hathaway

Dillon-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Kempny-Gudas

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 20, 2020

Canadiens’ Lines at Capitals

Canadiens at morning skate in DC

Tatar-Danault-Weal/Gallagher
Drouin-Suzuki-Armia
Lehkonen-Domi-Kovalchuk
Byron-Thompson-Cousins

Chiarot-Weber
Kulak-Petry
Ouellet-Folin

Mete not skating after blocking shot off foot Tuesday. Gallagher working way back from lower body injury.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 20, 2020

Capitals Today

CAPS TODAY: Tonight, Alex Ovechkin looks to join the 700 goal club, while John Carlson looks to record the most points in franchise history by a defenseman. More info on both Ovechkin and Carlson at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/zBrckvpgu6

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 20, 2020

By Harrison Brown