Capitals vs. Hurricanes Preview: Line Combinations, injury Report, Storylines, How To Watch & Playoff Implications

Coming off an ugly loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins that forced them out of the playoff picture, the Washington Capitals are looking to get back into playoff position with two crucial points against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Here's everything to know before puck drop at PNC Arena at 7 p.m. ET.

The Capitals will role with all the same personnel against Carolina, except Darcy Kuemper will get the start after Charlie Lindgren played on Thursday, per Spencer Carbery. Matthew Phillips was recalled earlier in the day, and Hunter Shepard remains up under emergency conditions.

However, the lines will not remain intact and will be shaken up following a lack of chemistry that has spanned over the entirety of their recent four-game losing streak.

Here are the lines:

Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson

Mike Sgarbossa-Connor McMichael-Aliaksei Protas

Max Pacioretty-Hendrix Lapierre-Sonny Milano

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Ivan Miroshnichneko

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Rasmus Sandin-Nick Jensen

Alex Alexeyev-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Darcy Kuemper

Charlie Lindgren

- T.J. Oshie is out with an upper-body injury. He is "hopefully" progressing to return this season but will continue to play things by ear.

- Nicklas Backstrom is still on long-term injured reserve and is unlikely to play again this season after stepping away due to his hip not responding as he'd hoped following hip resurfacing surgery in June 2022.

- Alex Ovechkin is three goals away from 30 this season and scored the team's lone goal in Thursday's loss to Pittsburgh.

- Hendrix Lapierre has points in four of his last five games and has 13 points in 19 games since being called back up to the NHL. He ranks third in goals and tied for fourth in scoring among rookies since then.

- The power play has goals in three straight games and goals in 16 of the last 20 outings overall. Since Feb. 8, the Capitals own the best power-play percentage in the league (32.5 percent).

The game will be live on Monumental Sports Network.

Fans can also tune in on Caps Radio 24/7 and 106.7 FM The Fan.

Washington was knocked out of the second Wild Card spot on Friday after the New York Islanders topped the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2.

With two points and help from the out-of-town scoreboard, D.C. can get back into position and even steal third in the Metropolitan Division from the Philadelphia Flyers. Philadelphia and the Detroit Red Wings, who are tied with the Capitals with 82 points, are both in action on Friday.

Washington does have games in hand, which helps its case, with seven games remaining on the regular season circuit.