ARLINGTON, V.A. — As the Washington Capitals wrapped up their final practice ahead of their season opener, coach Spencer Carbery gathered his players in a huddle on Tuesday at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
He reminded them to take this moment in: camp is over, the opening night roster is set and in 24 hours, they'll be under the bright lights playing NHL hockey against the Boston Bruins.
"I told these guys... these guys work their entire lives to play in the National Hockey League," Carbery said, adding, "I brought the guys together, and think it's important they should acknowledge and take a moment today that you are playing in the best league in the world and have an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League on opening day. Don't take that lightly... don't take that for granted fora. second."
Washington got some positive news, as Dylan McIlrath skated on his own in a non-contact jersey before practice while Matt Roy and Declan Chisholm, who had eight stitches to close a skate cut on his leg, returned to the ice and are both good to go.
The Capitals also kept their lines together, and for opening night, will stick with Hendrix Lapierre playing third-line center while maintaining the same defense pairings they finished last season with. Sonny Milano, Chisholm and Vincent Iorio are the healthy scratches. Logan Thompson is projected to start.
Here are the projected combinations:
Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Anthony Beauvillier-Hendrix Lapierre-Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Justin Sourdif
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Rasmus Sandin-Matt Roy
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren