Photo: @Capitals
The Washington Capitals announced on Monday that defenseman Matt Roy is labeled as day-to-day with a lower-body injury suffered in the team’s season-opening 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday but head coach Spencer Carbery hinted that he could be out longer than that.
Although Matt Roy is officially listed as day-to-day, Coach Carbery indicated that the #Caps Dman will be sidelined a bit. “I don’t think it’s going to be crazy long but he’s going to miss a decent amount of time,” Carbery said. https://t.co/jOnP7ZQ2Eh
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 14, 2024
The 29-year-old lasted just 8:39 into his Washington debut after signing a six-year contract with the Capitals on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent but there has not been a play identified in which the injury occurred. Roy did not suit up past the first period of Saturday’s contest.
Dylan McIlrath skated in his place during Monday’s practice ahead of the Capitals’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market).
Carbery also announced that goaltender Logan Thompson, who was acquired from Vegas on June 29, will make his Washington debut against the team he won the Stanley Cup with two seasons ago.
Thompson on starting vs. Vegas: “You’re always going to be a little extra motivated to play your former team. I’m just excited to get a first game here in a Caps jersey and hopefully help get the guys two points tomorrow.” #Caps https://t.co/7FkR5mqVBn
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 14, 2024
It also appeared that the team is set to replace left-wing Sonny Milano with Jakub Vrana, who signed a one-year contract with Washington this past Tuesday, in the Capitals’ lineup against the Golden Knights.
Carbery on putting Vrana in for Milano: “Well, the third line struggled (-3 vs. NJD), so it’s as simple as that. I don’t need to go into the details of that. We’ve got to make a change on that third line to try to figure out a way to be able to deploy that line. It’s as easy as…
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 14, 2024
Washington also put left-wing Alex Ovechkin on the right side as they shuffled their lines up after Saturday’s loss.
Ovechkin downplayed the switch to right wing: “I don’t know if I’m going to play right or left or center. Maybe I’m going to play goalie tomorrow—we never know. But we still have options to find out combinations. It’s the beginning of the year, new faces on the team, so we have…
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 14, 2024
Here is Washington’s expected lineup, which includes new first and third forward trios, for Tuesday’s game against Vegas:
Lines at Caps practice. With Roy out (LBI, day to day), McIlrath looks set to draw in next to Fehervary. Some line changes, too:
Protas-Strome-Ovechkin
McMichael-Dubois-Wilson
Vrana/Milano-Lapierre-Mangiapane
Duhaime-Dowd-RaddyshChychrun-Carlson
Fehervary-McIlrath
Sandin-TvR— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) October 14, 2024
By Harrison Brown
