Here's everything to know as the Capitals look to keep the good times rolling against the struggling Islanders.
The Washington Capitals are starting to find the spark they've been looking for, and they'll look to keep the good times rolling as they take on the struggling New York Islanders to close out a back-to-back series up north.
Washington has won five of its last seven, while New York has dropped three straight. Here is everything to know before puck drop at 7:30 p.m. at UBS Arena.
Washington Capitals Lines & Injury Report
Head coach Spencer Carbery made some tweaks to the lines for Friday's victory over the New Jersey Devils, looking to ignite the offense. He did just that, as Washington not only scored three times at 5-on-5 but finally found its identity on the fourth line with Nic Dowd, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Beck Malenstyn making all the difference en route to the victory.
However, there are more questions for the blue line going into Saturday, as Martin Fehervary has gone on the injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury in the second period of Friday's game. Rasmus Sandin, who was banged up at the end of Friday's win, will play, though eh's feeling soreness. Dylan McIlrath, who was recalled with Fehervary out through next week, will be a healthy scratch.
In goal, Hunter Shepard will make his second career NHL start, with Charlie Lindgren backing up. Darcy Kuemper remains out with an undisclosed injury.
Here are the lines:
Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas-Connor McMichael-Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Alex Alexeyev-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Nick Jensen
Hardy Häman Aktell-Lucas Johansen
Hunter Shepard
Charlie Lindgren
Full injury report: Martin Fehervary (lower-body, IR), Darcy Kuemper (undisclosed, questionable), Anthony Mantha (upper-body, IR), Trevor van Riemsdyk (lower-body, IR), Joel Edmundson (hand, LTIR), Max Pacioretty (Achilles, LTIR), Nicklas Backstrom (hip, LTIR, not returning this season)
Here's how the Islanders stack up, per The Hockey News colleague Stefen Rosner:
Mathew Barzal-Bo Horvat-Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov-Ryan Pulock
Samuel Bolduc-Scott Mayfield
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
Adam Pelech is out with injury.
Washington Capitals Keys To Success
Scoring at 5-on-5 will be key again, but the team will also have to do a better job of shutting down the Islanders' offense to avoid a similar result as last game, where the team dominated possession-wise but gave up some tough goals while failing to generate.
In addition, the penalty kill has to stay strong against a team like New York. Washington has killed off 17 straight penalties over the span of seven games.
Washington Capitals Players To Watch & Game Notes
- Nicolas Aube-Kubel put up a multi-point performance in his season debut while making the most of his call-up. He was one of the best Capitals players on Friday and is looking to keep a roster spot after having lost his in training camp.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov had two goals last game and is looking to continue trending in the right direction.
- Rasmus Sandin has points in two of his last three games. He was banged up in the win over New Jersey but appears to be good to go.
- Tom Wilson has four points in his last five games.
- Alex Ovechkin had an assist on Friday and is generating good plays, but he is still struggling to find the back of the net. He has two goals in 12 games to open 2023-24.