The Washington Capitals will take on the New York Rangers for a home-and-home slate to close out their five game homestand. Puck drop is set for 1PM at Capital One Arena.
This is the third meeting between these two division rivals, with the season set being tied at one apiece, but the Rangers defeated the Caps, 5-1, back on Dec. 27 at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the current projected lines.
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Trevor van Riemsdyk – Nick Jensen
Joel Edmundson – Ethan Bear
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Sonny Milano, Alex Alexeyev, Rasmus Sandin, Matthew Phillips, Hendrix Lapierre, Nicklas Backstrom
Once again, the Capitals continued their five-on-five scoring struggles against Seattle, getting essentially goalied by Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord. The Caps struggled to get interior presence and bodies in front of Daccord, which is something that they worked on during Friday’s practice.
“We have to do a better job of that without question. Being able to get pucks through, it’s been a real challenge for us especially from the blue line. So we’ve been working on that a lot of trying to help our defensemen find shot lanes, get their heads up, the little habits and the little details that go along with that,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said. “I would call it a productive puck to the interior of the rink, and that’s just in general not just a shot on goal but we just need to be on the interior attacking, more pucks inside their [offensive zone].”
The Capitals were without Tom Wilson for the first time all season against Seattle, after he took a high hit from Los Angeles Kings forward Alex Laferriere. Wilson broke his nose and had to get it straightened out. Carbery said after Thursday’s loss that Wilson’s presence was missed considering the intangibles he brings to the table.
However, No. 43 should be good to go against New York according to Washington’s bench boss. He will be wearing a full shield to protect his face.
“We’re super lucky to have great doctors and stuff to look after us when stuff like that happens,” Wilson said after Friday’s practice. “You go and play a pretty savage sport and whatever happens happens and the doctors are there to help you out. So he got me back to right and feeling better today.”
Max Pacioretty earned his first goal as a Capital on Friday and his first goal since Jan. 10, 2023. Pacioretty skated on a line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome, which was put together briefly against the Kings, and the trio was terrific racking up 10 scoring chances. But with Wilson likely returning, that line will likely be broken up.
Along the lines of struggling to score, the line of Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael and Anthony Mantha has fizzled out for the last few games. That trio had been Washington’s best line during the month of December. While they still have created some scoring chances, they have had a tough time finishing. Teams have started to crack down on the so-called third line.
Head coach Spencer Carbery speaks to the media ahead of this weekend’s home-and-home with the Rangers.#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/uoAT9DvU4o
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 12, 2024
“This is a point of the year with our young guys where it becomes a grind. [McMichael] and [Protas] are gonna go through this and they have to figure out a way to be consistent,” Carbery said. “If you’re going to be a quality player in this league, you got to be consistent. And that’s what the challenge is for young players and for them going forward.”
Charlie Lindgren is expected to make his return guarding the crease. Lindgren has not played since Dec. 29, after taking a puck up high against the New York Islanders, forcing him to go onto injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
With Darcy Kuemper once again struggling to find consistency in the net, after giving up four goals on 23 shots against the Kraken, the return of Lindgren is huge heading down the stretch. Lindgren earned a 4-0 shutout the last time these two teams met at Capital One Arena.
Scouting New York
The Rangers (26-12-2) have been inconsistent as of late, going 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and come into the district having dropped three straight, with their most recent loss coming against the St. Louis Blues. New York is still atop of the division with 54 points.
Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin has lost his last two starts against the Blues and the Vancouver Canucks. Shesterkin gave up five goals on 25 shots against Vancouver.
Forward Mika Zibanejad was a late scratch against St. Louis due to an illness and is questionable to play against Washington. New York has also been without Kaapo Kakko for the last 20 games. Kakko has been out since Nov. 27 due to a lower-body injury, but has been skating in a normal practice jersey.
But the Blue Shirts have other weapons that bring a ton of offense, such as Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox.
The Rangers have the best power play in the NHL, currently clicking at 30.1%.
Player To Watch
Forward Vincent Trocheck has four goals in his last five games. Trocheck is second on the team with 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 40 games.
Puck drop is slated for 1 p.m. at Capital One Arena. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ and ABC.
By Jacob Cheris
