Defenseman Jonas Seigenthaler will draw back into the lineup when the Washington Capitals host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night (7 PM ET, NBCSN) in favor of defenseman Michal Kempny after head coach Todd Reirden had a discussion with Kempny regarding his recent play before the team’s 3-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Seigenthaler skated with Radko Gudas on the third-pairing.
Reirden’s thoughts on Kempny after practice today pic.twitter.com/vXNN8EZNni
— JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) March 3, 2020
Seigenthaler has been a healthy scratch for every one of the Capitals’ six games since they acquired Brendan Dillon from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick and conditional third-round pick.
Daily ask: The Kempny dip is primarily a direct result of:
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) March 2, 2020
Kempny, who has just one assist and a -3 rating in his last 11 games, missed his man on the first goal given up by the Capitals in their 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday and took a minor penalty in the third period that the Wild scored on to get back in the game. He did not play after that.
Defenseman Radko Gudas will drawback in after getting scratched against the Wild. Nick Jensen will move back up to the second pairing with Dmitry Orlov.
Goaltender Braden Holtby will start against the Flyers on Wednesday and Ilya Samsonov will start on Thursday when the Capitals visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Reirden announced.
Ilya Kovalchuk loves his new teammate @CapsPup! @nbcwashington #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/S26PNvEueM
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) March 3, 2020
The Capitals made no lineup changes upfront.
Goaltender Brian Elliott will start for the Flyers on Wednesday.
Capitals’ Lines
Capitals Tuesday practice lines:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Kovalchuk
Panik-Dowd-HathawayDillon-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Siegenthaler-Gudas*Kempny looks to be out
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) March 3, 2020
Capitals Today
CAPS TODAY: Tomorrow night against the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena, T.J. Oshie is expected to play in his 800th career game. More info on Oshie and the Caps at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/a7KhYugB6V
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 3, 2020
Beyond The Game
By Harrison Brown
Gee, coach can’t make decision on which slumping D-Man goes in line-up & where? Wonder if Ronnie Milsap & Stevie Wonder could both see that problem coming! Oh yeah I did!
I see what your saying, Scott. My guess (hope) is that he’s still checking things out as far as pairings now that Dillon is getting settled. I hope that’s what it is.
Kempny has been the Defenses Achilles Heel all season…….(pun intended). Rest up and get well Mike.
Seigenthaler played against the Devils….
And the Wild.