The Capitals will play their first game in what appears to be a long stretch without Alex Ovechkin.
WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals begin a new reality on Thursday, as they take on the Colorado Avalanche in the first of many games without captain Alex Ovechkin, who will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a broken leg.
Here's everything to know before puck drop at Capital One Arena at 7 p.m.
Washington Capitals Line Combinations
With Ovechkin out, Andrew Mangiapane will get the first chance to show what he can do in his place as he takes over as the first-line left wing with Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas.
As Mangiapane moves up, Hendrix Lapierre will get the first crack at slotting into the mix, as he returns from healthy scratches to suit up with Lars Eller and Hendrix Lapierre. Ivan Miroshnichenko, who was called up from the AHL's Hershey Bears to help fill the void, will be a healthy scratch.
Logan Thompson will get the start.
Here are the combinations:
Andrew Mangiapane-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Hendrix Lapierre-Lars Eller-Jakub Vrana
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Injured: Alex Ovechkin (leg, IR), Sonny Milano (upper-body, LTIR), Nicklas Backstrom (hip, LTIR), T.J. Oshie (back, LTIR)
Washington Capitals Stats
- Dylan Strome leads the Capitals with 28 points through 18 games and is riding a five-game point streak. He has points in all but two games this season.
- Aliaksei Protas has points in four of his last five outings.
- The power play has goals in three consecutive games and four of the last five outings overall, and the penalty kill ranks third in the league at 87.7 percent.
Washington Capitals Storylines
- Look for Lapierre to try and make the most of his opportunity in the lineup with Ovechkin out and the team needing offense.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois isn't being rewarded on the scoresheet, but he's been one of the team's strongest forwards and is expected to be the shutdown guy against Nathan MacKinnon on Thursday.