Stars and Sticks
Fansided

How the Capitals will Lineup Wednesday Night at Philadelphia

By Michael Marzzacco

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period of Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 4-3. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period of Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 4-3. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Washington Capitals will be taking on the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. Wednesday morning the Capitals held a morning skate at Wells Fargo Center. Based on line rushes, here’s the Capitals lineup for tonight. 

CAPITALS LINES

Forwards
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Connolly
Burakovsky-Dowd-Boyd
Defense
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Jensen
Starting goalie: Braden Holtby

As the old adage goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The Capitals are going with the same skaters they’ve used in their last four games, all wins, to go for their fifth win in a row tonight. The healthy scratches are Chandler Stephenson, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Christian Djoos.

The last four games had no changes to the top-six forwards nor the defensive pairings. The only change came with Carl Hagelin and Andre Burakovsky switching spots prior to Sunday’s game. Hagelin moved to the third line while Burakovsky dropped to the fourth line. That will be their spots tonight.

The switch seemed to work well for both players on Sunday. Each player found the back of the net. Hagelin scored his first goal as a member of the Capitals. Burakovsky has recorded five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last seven games.

Braden Holtby will get the start in goal and will be going for some history tonight. He looks to get his 250th career win tonight and if he does so he would become the second-fastest goaltender in NHL history to reach that mark. Tonight is his 409th career game.

More from Capitals News

LINE TO WATCH:

The Top (Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson)

Alex Ovechkin is inching closer to 50 goals. With 45 in 65 games played, reaching 60 wouldn’t be impossible. After an impressive five-game stretch that saw Ovechkin score six goals (Feb. 14-23), Ovechkin has since scored one goal in his last four games. No better stage than NBC’s Wednesday Night Hockey to turn it on.

Evgeny Kuznetsov continues to be a dazzlying playmaker. He comes into tonight with five points in his last five games including an overtime-winning goal against the Rangers a week and a half ago. Kuznetsov was scoreless last game but look for Ovechkin’s energy to impact Kuznetsov, as well as the tough road environment. Kuznetsov loves his road games.

Tom Wilson is everything Flyers fans hate but wish they had. His presence alone on the ice even could intimidate Gritty. His physicality will always help and he’s had some recent offensive consistency. Wilson has scored twice during the Capitals’ four-game winning streak and he looks to find the scoring touch he had when he tore it up coming off his 20-game suspension that got reduced to 14.

Puck drop is at 7:30 tonight on NBC Sports Network.

Home/Capitals News