The Washington Capitals are slowly headed in the right direction and will look to continue that trend against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. This is the first game of a five-game homestand.
Here are the Capitals projected lines for the Wild:
Capitals lines at morning skate:
Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson
Milano-Kuznetsov-Oshie
McMichael-Backstrom-Mantha
Malenstyn-Protas-PhillipsFehervary-Carlson
Sandin-TvR
Alexeyev-Jensen
Haman Aktell-JohansenKuemper
Lindgren has been on for the full skate— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) October 27, 2023
Rasmus Sandin’s availability for Friday’s contest is uncertain according to Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery. He was a full participant in the morning skate and skated on the second pair with Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Sandin took a hit sometime during the second period against the New Jersey Devils and left the game sometime during the third period.
Charlie Lindgren also skated the full session, but served as the third goaltender and will not suit up. Hunter Shepard will be backing up Darcy Kuemper. Lindgren is slowly making progress according to Carbery.
Washington changed its forward lines ahead of the game. Anthony Mantha has been promoted to the third line with Nicklas Backstrom and Connor McMichael. Mantha had a goal and an assist against New Jersey. He was originally on a line with Aliaksei Protas and Beck Malenstyn, but Matthew Phillips will take Mantha’s spot on the right side. Meanwhile, this will be the first time this season that McMichael will not be on a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson.
Wilson was placed back on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome, and Kuznetsov will skate with Sonny Milano and T.J. Oshie.
Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena.
By Jacob Cheris