The Capitals face some possible changes and decisions after Darcy Kuemper and his wife welcomed a baby boy overnight.
WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals will finally be back in action on Friday as they open the 2023-24 season with "something to prove" against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. However, they may also be navigating quite a few lineup changes, as Darcy Kuemper welcomed his first child overnight.
Head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters at Friday's optional morning skate that he still hasn't made a decision when it comes to the starting netminder for Friday, and explained that if Charlie Lindgren starts and Kuemper is unavailable, there will be more lineup — and potentially roster — decisions made.
Roster changes could come if the team needs to recall a netminder to back up Lindgren if Kuemper sits out. Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson are both available in Hershey, which opens its season on Saturday.
That, in turn, could lead to changes with regard to the lineup for Friday.
Here's a look at how the lines were set at Thursday's skate:
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie
Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Anthony Mantha/Matthew Phillips
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Lucas Johansen-Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Per Monumental Sports Network's Tarik El-Bashir, Aliaksei Protas and Alex Alexeyev were taking the scratches' skate, meaning that Matthew Phillips could very well be in the mix for Friday.
Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena. The game will not be on Monumental Sports Network but on ESPN+ and Hulu. It marks Washington's first game of the campaign and Pittsburgh's second.