The Washington Capitals held a morning skate prior to their Saturday night tilt against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here is what you need to know.
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Charlie Lindgren will get his second straight start, and fourth start in six games, after leading the Capitals to a 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Darcy Kuemper will back up Lindgren after he was injured in Wednesday’s practice.
Carbery on the goalies: “I understand the optics and questions and Darcy and how that will come into question. But at the same time it’s an 82 gm schedule and I know that we’re going to need multiple goaltenders…Charlie is playing well and Charlie deserves to play again.” #Caps https://t.co/icClxrnUky
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) November 18, 2023
Evgeny Kuznetsov will not play due to illness, which means that Connor McMichael will play on the first power play unit. The Caps power play is 0-for-19 in the last seven games. Meanwhile, Hendrix Lapierre will draw back into the lineup with Kuznetsov’s absence.
It is unclear whether Joel Edmundson will return to the lineup. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after Friday’s practice that he is “to be determined”.
According to Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post, Matthew Phillips, Alex Alexeyev and Dylan McIlrath were the last three to leave the ice, which usually indicates that they are healthy scratches. However, the Caps don’t have enough healthy defensemen to scratch both of them. That will be a storyline to watch during warmups.
As was rightly pointed out, I cannot do math — Caps don’t have enough healthy defensemen for both Alexeyev and McIlrath to sit, unless Edmundson is ready to go. Carbery didn’t confirm if he’s playing, so that’ll be a fun mystery for us to solve this evening https://t.co/5GKfsURUR1
— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) November 18, 2023
Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena.
By Jacob Cheris
