The Capitals are changing things up following their season-opening loss to the Devils.
The Washington Capitals are making some major changes to their lineup following their season-opening loss to the New Jersey Devils, as head coach Spencer Carbery shook things up big time at Monday's practice.
Per Monumental Sports Network's Tarik El-Bashir, Ovechkin has been moved to the right wing, while Aliaksei Protas replaced Andrew Mangiapane on the top line with Dylan Strome.
Ovechkin playing on the right side isn't necessarily a surprise, as Carbery mentioned during training camp No. 8 switching from his left-wing position could be a possibility at some point this season.
Meanwhile, Jakub Vrana will draw in for Sonny Milano and skate on the third line alongside Mangiapane and Hendrix Lapierre. That line changes after it allowed three goals on the first three shifts and was ultimately benched against the Devils.
On defense, with Matt Roy out with a lower-body injury, Dylan McIlrath drew in on the right side with Martin Fehervary.
Here were the full combinations:
Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana-Hendrix Lapierre-Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh
Sonny Milano
Jakob Chychrun-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Dylan McIlrath
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Alex Alexeyev
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Washington faces the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, where it will implement their new line combinations. Carbery also told reporters that Logan Thompson will make his Capitals debut and start against his former club.
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- Spencer Carbery brutally honest when it comes to third line's performance in Capitals opener
- Takeaways from the Capitals' season-opening loss to New Jersey
- Jakob Chychrun goes 1-on-1 about his ancestral diet
- Dylan McIlrath reflects on making an NHL opening night roster for the first time in 8 years
- Why the Capitals sent Andrew Cristall back to juniors
- Capitals & Carbery happy to have Vrana back in the mix, excited to work with forward again
- Alex Ovechkin discusses why scoring has become so much more difficult in today's game, not stressing over Wayne Gretzky's record