Alex Ovechkin is questionable for the Capitals, who changed up their forward lines again.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals saw their lines get another bit of a shakeup on Wednesday, with head coach Spencer Carbery navigating injuries and returns while also looking to spark one of his top centers.
With Alex Ovechkin questionable for Thursday's game against the Seattle Kraken and not skating again due to an undisclosed injury, Hendrix Lapierre and Matthew Phillips both filled in for him on the top line with Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson.
Washington had reunited Ovechkin and Strome back on Sunday while benching Evgeny Kuznetsov for the final part of the second period and most of the third. Max Pacioretty had been on that top line, too, and the trio combined for some high-quality chances and a critical game-tying goal.
On Wednesday, Kuznetsov received a new assignment and was placed in the second-line center spot between Pacioretty and T.J. Oshie, who is expected to make his return to the lineup on Thursday after missing the last three weeks with an upper-body ailment.
For head coach Spencer Carbery, the hope is that new linemates will help kick Kuznetsov's game into higher gear.
"Maybe (Oshie and Pacioretty) can help him a little bit as well, giving him a couple guys that have a real presence to them and have high expectations, for that matter," Carbery said. "Kuz will need to get his game up to that level to be able to contribute and keep up with those guys and make sure they're an effective line."
The rest of the combinations remained intact from Sunday. Here are what the full lines looked like:
Hendrix Lapierre/Matthew Phillips-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty-Evgeny Kuznetsov-T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas-Connor McMichael-Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Trevor van Riemsdyk-Nick Jensen
Joel Edmundson-Ethan Bear
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Sonny Milano skated in a non-contact jersey and took rushes on an extra pairing with Alex Alexeyev.