ARLINGTON, V.A. — The last time the Washington Capitals faced the Calgary Flames on the road, coach Spencer Carbery thought they were "just okay." After scoring 15 goals in 24 hours in their return from the 4 Nations break, the bench boss is expecting much more from his group.
Washington will stick with the same line combinations as they welcome the Flames, with Aliaksei Protas sticking with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome on the top line while Tom Wilson reunites with Connor McMichael and Pierre-Luc Dubois on a shutdown third line.
All the while, Logan Thompson will get the start in a meaningful game for him, as he's set to face his hometown team on his 28th birthday with the goaltending rotation picking up where it left off.
Here are the projected line combinations:
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane-Lars Eller-Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena.