Washington Capitals: Breaking down the preseason finale against the Flyers

The Washington Capitals have one more preseason game left tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Coming off a win the other night over the Boston Bruins in overtime, you’re going to see mostly the same lineup and most of these guys will be on the opening day roster. There’s still some final decisions that are left to be made. The Caps are 1-3-1 this preseason.

Here’s what the roster will look like for the final game:

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

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

Goaltenders
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Zach Fucale

The Caps are holding an optional skate at 10:30. Here were what the lines were during Thursday’s practice:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Mantha-Eller-Sprong
Hagelin-Dowd-Hatahway
Malenstyn-McMichael-Pilon
Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Kempny-Schultz
Irwin-TvR
Samsonov
Vanecek
Fucale

Martin Fehervary suffered an upper body injury in their loss Monday night to the New Jersey Devils after blocking a shot with his hand. He skated on the top pair with John Carlson which is interesting because Trevor van Riemsdyk skated there the other day. It looks like Caps head coach Peter Laviolette is continuing to mix and match his defensive pairs to find the right combos for a better season.

Ilya Samsonov, who suffered a lower body injury last Saturday in Philadelphia, was also on the ice and after Vitek Vanecek started the other night in Boston, it could be Samsonov’s turn if he’s a full go. Laviolette told the media after practice that he would love to see both Samsonov and Fehervary dress for the preseason finale but he has to check with them.

Then of course it’s the matchup for the third line center position. After Connor McMichael played the other night it looks like the team is going to get another look at Hendrix Lapierre. He recorded an assist on Monday against New Jersey which was his fifth apple of the preseason and third straight game with a helper. Through games played Oct. 6, Lapierre’s five assists are tied for first in the NHL and are tied for most among rookies.

Puck drop from Capital One Arena is at 7 p.m. and you can catch the game locally on NBC Sports Washington or nationally on NHL Network. You can listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan as well as Caps Radio 24/7.