WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals will get back to work on Thursday in what'll likely be an intense contest against the Carolina Hurricanes, especially after a 5-1 loss that ended with sparks flying and tensions high just over a week ago.
It will be a good test for the team, especially with Alex Ovechkin finally overtaking Wayne Gretzky for the NHL all-time goals record and the team able to reset its focus.
"This is a really good hockey team, they play really, really hard," Nic Dowd said. "If you want to be successful against them, you got to be willing to work, got to be willing to skate and your details have to be good. You have to be your best."
The Capitals will see some changes to the forward lines, per Spencer Carbery, as he looks to spark a stronger effort from his group after dropping five of the last seven contests.
At Wednesday's practice, Taylor Raddysh was moved to the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome, while Ryan Leonard went to work on the third line with Lars Eller and Andrew Mangiapane. It is unclear if those will be the same combinations Carbery will deploy against Carolina.
Charlie Lindgren will get the start in net with Logan Thompson still out due to an upper-body injury he suffered back on Wednesday in Raleigh.
Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena. Before the game, Washington will pay tribute to Ovechkin with a pregame ceremony honoring him for the first time on home ice for hitting 895 career goals.