The Washington Capitals released their intended roster for their third preseason game when the Capitals travel to Philadelphia to face the Flyers Saturday night. Puck drop is set for just after 7:00 PM.

The line of Carl Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway will make its first appearance of the preseason tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Last season, the trio were the only forwards to appear in all 56 games of the season, where they skated a total of 517:43 together at five-on-five, the most of any Capitals’ line combination last season.

Ilya Samsonov made his 2021-22 preseason debut on Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils. Samsonov has a 5-0-0 record in six career games against Philadelphia, tied for the most wins he has against a single opponent (New Jersey: 5; New York Islanders: 5). All five of Samsonov’s victories against the Flyers came in 2020-21, where he posted a 2.40 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

Joe Snively will play in his second preseason game after scoring in the Capitals’ preseason opener on Sept. 26 against the Boston Bruins. Snively recorded 17 points (6g, 11a) in 30 games with Hershey in 2020-21, establishing a new AHL career high in points per game (0.57). The Herndon, Virginia, native ranked tied for second on Hershey in game-winning goals (3) and tied for sixth in points and power play assists (3).

Aliaksei Protas will play in his second preseason game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Protas began the 2020-21 season on loan to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), where he recorded 18 points (10g, 8a) in 58 games. He ranked tied for fifth on the team in goals and tied for eighth in points, despite ranking 15th in time on ice per game (12:52) among Dinamo Minsk skaters with at least 30 games played. Additionally, the 6’6”, 225-pound forward recorded four points (1g, 3a) in five playoff games and was named Best Rookie of the KHL playoffs’ first round. Protas was re- assigned to Hershey on March 18 and made his AHL debut on March 31. The Vitebsk, Belarus, native recorded seven points (2g, 5a) in 16 games with Hershey. Additionally, Protas represented Belarus at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, recording two assists in six games.

Capitals game notes are here.

The Flyers lines and defensive pairs for the game:

28 Claude Giroux – 14 Sean Couturier – 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk – 48 Morgan Frost – 86 Joel Farabee
23 Okar Lindblom – 19 Derick Brassard – 89 Cam Atkinson
21 Scott Laughton – 44 Nate Thompson – 62 Nic Aube-Kubel
Extra forward: 73 Elliot Desnoyers

9 Ivan Provorov – 94 Ryan Ellis
6 Travis Sanheim – 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle – 61 Justin Braun

35 Martin Jones
[32 Felix Sandström]

PP1: Giroux, JVR, Couturier, Konecny, Yandle.
PP2: Farabee, Brassard/Frost, Atkinson, Ristolainen, Provorov

The Capitals are next on the ice on Monday when they visit the Devils at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

The Capitals returned defenseman Vincent Iorio to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Thursday, reducing the Capitals training camp roster to 48 players: 28 forwards, 15 defensemen and five goaltenders:

By Jon Sorensen