Washington Capitals search for first preseason win tonight against Bruins

Tonight is the penultimate game of the preseason and the final road game. It is also a week before the games count. Although they don’t for right now, the Washington Capitals could sure use a win as they enter tonight 0-3-1. Tonight the Capitals will take on the only team they were able to secure a point with this entire preseason in the Boston Bruins and you’ll see a lot of varsity guys plus the position matchup everyone is talking about.

Here is what the roster will look like:

Forwards
Alex Ovechkin
Daniel Sprong
Lars Eller
Garnet Hathaway
Connor McMichael
Nic Dowd
Hendrix Lapierre
Anthony Mantha
Tom Wilson
Beck Malenstyn
Carl Hagelin
Conor Sheary
T.J. Oshie
Evgeny Kuznetsov

Defensemen
Justin Schultz
Nick Jensen
Michal Kempny
Dmitry Orlov
Matt Irwin
Trevor van Riemsdyk
John Carlson

Goaltenders
Vitek Vancek
Zach Fucale

With that roster being said, here is what the lineup looked like based on morning skate today at MedStar Capitals Iceplex before the team shipped up to Boston:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Mantha-Eller-Sprong
Sheary-McMichael-Oshie
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
TvR-Carlson
Kempny-Schultz
Orlov-Jensen
Vanecek
Fucale

Extras: Lapierre, Malenstyn, Irwin, Samsonov

OUT: Fehervary (upper body)

While Ilya Samsonov has dealt with a lower body since the Philadelphia Flyers game, he was on the ice for practice. The lineup you see above is close to what you’ll be seeing a week from tonight against the New York Rangers. However, there are still some roster spots to be determined.

Martin Fehervary is day to day so it looks like Michal Kempny for now has a slight edge but he needs to fix his game. Granted, it was his first time back on NHL ice in over a year. Look for Kempny on the second pair with Justin Shultz while we see a top pair of Trevor Van Riemsdyk and John Carlson.

Meanwhile there’s the matchup everyone is talking about and the one I am grabbing popcorn to see. There’s Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael. We have now reached the point where they both get a game at the third line to prove themselves as to who deserves that spot on opening night.

Laviolette was asked who was leading the completion right now but he wouldn’t say. He would say that both will get a chance to show what they can do. If Nicklas Backstrom is on long term injured reserved, they could both make the roster but only one will be on the ice.

Here’s how you can watch the game tonight. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. and you can catch the game on NHL Network. That’s the only way you’ll be able to see it as it will not be available on the radio.