Capitals vs. Panthers: Preview, Lines, Ovechkin Out, Injury Updates

Washington looks to end a five-game losing skid and play spoiler against Florida in one of the final games of the 2022-23 campaign.

WASHINGTON -- Without the playoffs to look forward to, the Washington Capitals are playing for pride and for fans and the organization at this point, but there is extra motivation as they can play spoiler against the Florida Panthers.

Florida is holding onto the second Wild Card spot and needs another win to reclaim first place. All 32 NHL teams are in action on Saturday, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to leapfrog the Panthers for that first Wild Card spot a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the day.

The Capitals are not only looking to capitalize and make the race more challenging for their remaining opponents, but they also want to end a five-game losing streak. They will also look to Beck Malenstyn and more to step up, with Alex Ovechkin, Anthony Mantha, T.J. Oshie and Trevor van Riemsdyk sitting due to injury.

- Ovechkin (upper-body) will not play. He is day-to-day.

- Mantha remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

- T.J. Oshie and van Riemsdyk remain out with upper-body injuries. There is no surefire timeline for their returns.

- Head coach Peter Laviolette said Washington is having "conversations" about personnel and how the team will approach its injured players for the final games of the year.

Here are what the lines may look like:

Conor Sheary-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson

Sonny Milano-Nicklas Backstrom-Craig Smith

Evgeny Kuznetsov-Aliaksei Protas

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Rasmus Sandin-Nick Jensen

Matt Irwin-Alex Alexeyev

Charlie Lindgren will start.

Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena.