Here's everything to know as the Capitals face the Blue Jackets.
The Washington Capitals haven't had an issue with the second games of back-to-backs to start the season, and they'll look to keep it that way and for a third straight win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Here is everything to know before the Metropolitan Division showdown at 7 p.m. at Nationwide Arena.
Washington Capitals Lines
Connor McMichael, who missed Wednesday's game with illness, did not make the trip to Columbus and will be out for the second straight game.
Michael Sgarbossa has been recalled to give the team an extra forward option with illness going around, but the lineup will remain intact from the win over the Islanders.
The only change is Charie Lindgren starting with Kuemper having captured the win less than 24 hours ago.
Here are the combinations for Thursday's game:
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas-Hendrix Lapierre-Anthony Mantha
Ivan Miroshnichenko-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson-Nick Jensen
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Washington Capitals Injury Report
McMichael remains out with illness but the hope is that his absence will not be longer than two games.
Milano (upper-body) and Oshie (lower-body) both remain out of the lineup and will not play before the Christmas break. Max Pacioretty is still ramping up and engaging in contact with the group, and he is expected to back shortly after the break ends.
Nicklas Backstrom remains out indefinitely after choosing to step away from the game with his hip not responding how he'd hoped following resurfacing surgery in June 2022. However, he has been around the facility and has even skated on his own.
Ethan Bear is with the team and continuing his acclimation to D.C. and rehabilitation, but is not officially signed yet and is not expected to play before the break, regardless. He did take the ice at Wednesday's optional morning skate, though.
Washington Capitals Storylines
- Miroshnichenko had two shots, five attempts and two hits through 10:14 minutes in his NHL debut and will look to continue building off his performance against Columbus.
- Alex Ovechkin is still looking to bust out of a 14-game goal drought (the longest of his career). Tonight, his opponent is Elvis Merzlikins, who is also the last goalie he scored on.
- Dylan Strome has points in five straight games, including the overtime winner against New York last night.
- Hendrix Lapierre is also looking to build off an impressive game that saw him pick up a goal and assist, marking his second multi-point outing of the season as he made the most of his chance on the second line.
- Speaking of the second line, Anthony Mantha has points in five of his last seven games, and Aliaksei Protas leads the team in scoring at 5-on-5 (13 points).
- The penalty kill has gone 22-for-23 (95.7 percent) over the last five games.
- Joel Edmundson scored for D.C. on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive game the team got a goal from the blue line. The team had just two goals from the defense through the first 26 games of the year.