Get ready for a Frozen Frenzy. The Washington Capitals against the Toronto Maple Leafs are up first in what will be a night consisting of 16 NHL games featuring all 32 teams. A reminder for those going to the game and those watching at home, the game starts at 6 p.m. NOT at 7 and it’ll be on ESPN as well as ESPN plus.
Today’s morning skate was an optional. Feel like the morning skates will all be optional on game days with Spencer Carbery in charge. The Capitals made a move by sending Clay Stevenson to the Hershey Bears and calling up Hunter Shepard.
Carbery said that Darcy Kuemper gets the start in goal tonight while Shepard will get the nod tomorrow night in New Jersey against the Devils.
Here are the lines from Monday’s practice:
#Caps lines, pairs and goalies on Monday:
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 23, 2023
Ovechkin-Strome-Phillips
McMichael-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Milano-Backstrom-Wilson
Malenstyn-Protas-Mantha
Fehervary-Carlson
Sandin-TvR
Alexeyev-Jensen
Haman Aktell-Johansen
Kuemper
Stevenson
*No Dowd or Lindgren
*D-pairs are different
And here are the top 3 Caps players to watch in tonight’s tilt:
#3 Alex Ovechkin
To put it simple, Alex Ovechkin is due for a goal tonight. After going two straight games without a shot, he had five shots the other night in Montreal against the Canadiens. He wasn’t lucky that night but maybe he gets lucky tonight.
He’ll go toe to toe with Auston Matthews which is always a fun matchup.