Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette met with the media when he arrived at the arena this afternoon around 2:45PM. As reported on Saturday, Laviolette confirmed that Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson will make make their season debuts tonight against the Blue Jackets.
Capitals coach Peter Laviolette confirms that Darcy Kuemper will start in net today vs. the Blue Jackets and Anthony Mantha and Nicolas Aube-Kubel will be the healthy scratches with Nicklas Backstom and Tom Wilson returning.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) January 8, 2023
Forward Anthony Mantha, who was demoted to the fourth line this week, and played a team-low 9:48 of ice time against Nashville on Friday night, will be a healthy scratch. Nicolas Aube-Kubel will also sit.
Laviolette on scratching Mantha and NAK: “These are obviously tough decisions…I have no problem if either one of those guys were in the lineup today, Kubel or Mantha, but they’re not.”
Darcy Kuemper will get the start in goal.
By Jon Sorensen