The Washington Capitals are back in action and back at home. On this Thanksgiving Eve the Caps will host the Montreal Canadiens, a team that is struggling this season despite a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
Tonight marks the first time Caps have faced the Canadiens since Feb. 20, 2020. Alex Ovechkin has scored in each of his last two games against Montreal and has six goals in his last five games versus the Canadiens. No active player has more goals against Montreal than Ovechkin, who has 33 in his career.
Ovechkin had a goal in the Caps loss at the Seattle Kraken. He passed Mats Sundin for the 28th most points in NHL history. The night before that he passed Pavel Datsyuk for the fourth most assists by a Russian born player. Also against the Sharks that Saturday night, Aliaksei Protas recorded his first career point while John Carlson passed Michal Pivonka (418) for third on the franchise assists list.
The Caps sent Axel Jonsson-Fjallby back to the Hershey Bears. They still have several players banged up. They recalled Michael Sgarbossa and Beck Malenstyn from the Bears. There was some good news at morning skate.
Nicklas Backstrom was on the ice in a non contact jersey and it looks like it was the first time he joined his teammates on the ice.
Hey, look who it is. Nicklas Backstrom is on the ice (in a no-contact) jersey for the morning skate. This is the first time he’s joined his teammates, I believe. #Caps pic.twitter.com/mU7oLScSqA
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) November 24, 2021
The Caps also placed T.J. Oshie on injured reserve. Also out is Lars Eller who’s still in COVID protocol and Conor Sheary with an upper body injury. Here were the lines at morning skate:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Protas
Sprong-McMichael-Wilson
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
Leason-Sgarbossa-Malenstyn
Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TvR-Schultz
Ilya Samsonov was the first goalie off the ice meaning he will get the start tonight against the Canadiens. He deserves it after his recent stretch that included back to back shutouts. As for Eller, he’s been quarantining in California but is expected to return to D.C. in the next day or so.
Date: Nov. 24, 2021
Time: 7 p.m.
Where: Capital One Arena
What Channel Is The Capitals Game On: NBC Sports Washington plus
Radio: 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7
Betting Odds: The betting odds on WynnBET have the Capitals as -1.5 favorites at home against the Canadiens. They moneyline is set with the Capitals at -200 and the Canadiens at +180. The over/under for tonight’s game is 6.0.
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