The Washington Capitals held an optional morning skate this morning at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. They host the Detroit Red Wings tonight at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM and will be broadcast by NBC Sports Washington.

ROSTER VS. RED WINGS

Forwards: Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Strome, Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway, Connor McMichael, Connor Brown, Anthony Mantha, Aliaksei Protas, Conor Sheary, T.J. Oshie, Marcus Johansson, Joe Snively and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Defensemen: Nick Jensen, Dmitry Orlov, Martin Fehervary, Lucas Johansen, Erik Gustafssson, Trevor van Riemsdyk and John Carlson.

Goaltenders: Darcy Kuemper, Charlie Lindgren

STARTERS

Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told media that Darcy Kuemper will get the start and should go the distance tonight against the Red Wings.

Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said Darcy Kuemper will play the full game vs. Detroit tonight. That will be his first full game of the preseason. Kuemper played half the game in Detroit on Friday.

Expect to see Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Brown together for first time in a game.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 5, 2022

SCRATCHES

Several players skated after the team’s optional skate, likely indicating they will be the scratches for tonight.

Capitals held an optional morning skate today.

Players still on the ice (an unlikely to play tonight: Mantha, Johansson, Dowd, Leason, AJF, Irwin, Gustafsson.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 5, 2022

So by subtracting guys still skating, here’s the Capitals lineup tonight:

F: Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Brown, Oshie, Strome, Eller, Hathaway, Sheary, McMichael, Protas, Borgstrom, Snively.

D: Carlson, Fehervary, Orlov, Jensen, TvR, Johansen.

G: Kuemper (full game), Lindgren.

STARTERS FOR RED WINGS

The Red Wings will travel to Washington early this afternoon. It looks like former Washington Capitals forward Jakub Vrána will once again miss facing his former team.