Top 3 key Capitals to watch against Devils

The Washington Capitals begin a four game road trip tonight against the New Jersey Devils. This is a game they hope to play dominant hockey from start to finish but it won’t be easy against a young and pesky Devils team.

Here are the lines from morning skate via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:

Ovechkin-Strome-Sheary
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Protas-Eller-Mantha
Malenstyn-Dowd-Hathaway

Orlov-Carlson
Fehervary-Jensen
Gustafsson-TvR

Extras: McMichael, Snively. Irwin

Here are the top 3 players to watch in tonight’s game:

#3 John Carlson

John Carlson grew up as a Devils fan as he was born in New Jersey so it’s a homecoming of sorts for the star defenseman. On Saturday night vs. the Los Angeles Kings he recorded two points with a goal and an assist. It was his second multi point effort in his last three games.

With 598 career points with 134 goals and 464 assists, Carlson sits just two points shy of reaching the 600 point mark and simultaneously passing Michal Pivonka (599) for the fifth most points in franchise history. In addition, Carlson is seven games shy of playing in his 900th career game.

Since 2017-18, Carlson ranks first in the NHL in points among defenseman with 333 points in 261 games which includes 72 goals. He holds a 26 point lead over the new closest defenseman which is Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning with 307 points.