Capitals vs. Hurricanes Preview: Line Combinations, Injury Report, Storylines, How To Watch

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals face a tall task on Friday, as they take on Evgevy Kuznetsov and the Carolina Hurricanes with several key names missing, including Tom Wilson, who was suspended for six games.

Here's everything to know before puck drop at Capital One Arena at 7 p.m. ET. D.C. sits three points out of a Wild Card spot.

With Wilson suspended six games and T.J. Oshie and Aliaksei Protas also hurting, Matthew Phillips is back up with the big club to help fill the void. Extras Mike Sgarbossa and Nicolas Aube-Kubel will also remain in the lineup.

Darcy Kuemper will start for the Capitals, with Charlie Lindgren backing up after starting 11 of the last 12.

Here are the projected line combinations:

Alex Ovechkin-Connor McMichael-Ivan Miroshnichenko

Mike Sgarbossa-Dylan Strome-Matthew Phillips

Max Pacioretty-Hendrix Lapierre-Sonny Milano

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Rasmus Sandin-Nick Jensen

Alex Alexeyev-Trevor van Riemsdyk

- T.J. Oshie is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and skated on Friday.

- Aliaksei Protas is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and skated on Friday, though he was in visible discomfort.

- Nicklas Backstrom is still on long-term injured reserve and is unlikely to play again this season after stepping away due to his hip not responding as he'd hoped following hip resurfacing surgery in June 2022.

- Alex Ovechkin has four goals in his last two games and has points in nine of his last 11 outings.

- Dylan Strome is on a threre-game poin

- The Capitals have power-play goals in 11 of the last 13 outings overall.

- Evgeny Kuznetsov will make his return to Capital One Arena for the first time since his trade to Carolina.

The game will be live on Monumental Sports Network.

Fans can also tune in on Caps Radio 24/7 and 106.7 FM The Fan.