Spencer Carbery revealed that Ovechkin and more will jump into preseason action for the Capitals' home tilt with Detroit on Thursday.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals will see Alex Ovechkin and more regulars suit up, while Ivan Miroshnichenko and Andrew Cristall will make their NHL preseason debuts on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.
Head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed to reporters that Wednesday's Group A players will be lacing 'em up for preseason action on Thursday at Capital One Arena. Charlie Lindgren will start and get the full game in net.
Ovechkin and Miroshnichenko are expected to play on the first line together with Nicklas Backstrom at center. Evgeny Kuznetsov was centering the second line with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.
Here are the projected lines based on Wednesday's group combos:
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Ivan Miroshnichenko
Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Joe Snively-Nic Dowd-T.J. Oshie
Andrew Cristall-Mike Sgarbossa-Pierrick Dube/Alexander Suzdalev
Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson
Hardy Haman Aktell-Alex Alexeyev
Lucas Johansen-Vincent Iorio
Charlie Lindgren
Expect either Pierrick Dube or Alexander Suzdalev to sit up front, while Nick Leivermann and Logan Day figure to be the extra defensive pairing. Hunter Shepard will back up Lindgren.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET in D.C.