James Guillory — Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b5b697e4-f660-48ba-9046-acde8d507f58.jpeg] James Guillory — Imagn Images The Washington Capitals could potentially get a big boost to their lineup on Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks, as Nic Dowd has been activated from the injured reserve. With Dowd ready to return, Bogdan Trineyev, who was called up to provide depth amid the injury, has been returned to Hershey. Dowd, who travelled with the team has been skating, has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury. He last played on Nov. 17 against the Los Angeles Kings, logging 19:21 minutes. He has a goal and four assists, along with a plus/minus of plus-2, through 19 games this season. With Dowd returning, Carbery will have to tweak his new forward lines, which have been finding plenty of chemistry of late. Given the team's recent play, it's unlikely that Justin Sourdif will be taken off the top-6 or that Connor McMichael will be moved back to the wing. Instead, it's likely that one of Sonny Milano or Hendrix Lapierre, who don't play on special teams and have seen their ice time limited over the last handful of games, would be the odd man out. Lapierre has been playing the fourth-line center role in Dowd's absence, but also plays wing. Puck drop between the Capitals and Sharks is at 10 p.m. ET in the second game of a back-to-back on a busy California road trip. Washington defeated the Kings on Tuesday, 3-1.
