Max Pacioretty will play in his first game in nearly a year following a re-torn Achilles. Here's everything to know before the Capitals host the Devils.
WASHINGTON — Just 24 hours removed from a big win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals will face the New Jersey Devils with the hopes of two more points — and they'll have a new look up front, too, with Max Pacioretty making his long-awaited debut.
Here is everything to know before puck drop at 7:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena.
Washington Capitals Line Combinations
The Capitals will have Pacioretty in the lineup as he makes his season debut nearly one year removed from a re-torn Achilles, which he suffered just five games into his return from the initial tear.
Pacioretty will slot in on the third line with Dylan Strome and Matthew Phillips, while Hendrix Lapierre will sit out as a healthy scratch. Joel Edmundson is taking a maintenance day in wake of the back-to-back, and in turn, Trevor van Riemsdyk will draw back into the lineup.
Hunter Shepard will start with Charlie Lindgren, who is still hurting.
Here are the projected line combinations:
Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas-Connor McMichael-Anthony Mantha
Max Pacioretty-Dylan Strome-Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Ethan Bear
Trevor van Riemsdyk-Nick Jensen
Washington Capitals Injury Report
- Lindgren (upper-body) has been put on the injured reserve in order to make space for Pacioretty, but he is still only day-to-day with his injury not as severe as initially believed.
- T.J. Oshie (upper-body) remains day-to-day and has not skated in the new year. He had been taking part in contact at a few practices before the new year.
- Sonny Milano (upper-body) is week-to-week and has not skated in the new year. He had skated in a non-contact jersey.
- Nicklas Backstrom (hip) remains on indefinite leave and is not likely to play against his season with his hip not responding as he'd hoped following hip resurfacing surgery in June 2022. He has not made any decisions regarding retirement, though, and he is on LTIR.
Washington Capitals Storylines
- Pacioretty is a six-time 30-goal scorer and had three goals in the five games he played last year.
- Alex Ovechkin has three goals (four if you include his disallowed strike against Nashville) in his last six games. He scored on the power play on Tuesday against Pittsburgh after switching to his offside, a plan that the team had in place but that he claimed was an accident.
- Rasmus Sandin has assists in three of his last four games.
- Dylan Strome, who has helpers in back-to-back outings, skated just 11:03 minutes on Tuesday.
- Anthony Mantha picked up a helper on Tuesday and now has points in five of his last seven games and 11 in his last 16 overall.
- John Carlson remains one assist away from 500 in his career.
How To Watch Capitals vs. Devils
The game between Washington and Pittsburgh is nationally televised and will be on TNT and ESPN+. Click the link to access the stream.
Fans can also listen on Caps Radio 24/7 and 106.7 FM.