The Washington Capitals have again changed their lines for Game Five against the Carolina Hurricanes, tonight at 8 PM in DC. Devante Smith-Pelly will make his return on the fourth line, and Carl Hagelin will try to fill the hole left by TJ Oshie’s injury.
Here’s the new look, according to reporter extraordinaire Isabelle Khurshudyan:
Caps projected Game 5 lineup:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Hagelin
Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly
Stephenson-Dowd-DSPSiegenthaler-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-JensenHoltby
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 20, 2019
Carl Hagelin basically takes Oshie’s spot, switching to the right side of Evgeny Kuznetsov for a very fast line. Living legend Devante Smith-Pelly will make his 2019 playoffs debut on the fourth line with Stephenson and Dowd.
Smith-Pelly skated one round with the team’s penalty-kill unit of the morning skate.
The defensive pairs are also changed, with 21-year-old Jonas Siegenthaler next to John Carlson and Nick Jensen with Brooks Orpik. Defensive pairings have been a bit inconsistent within games, so we’ll have to see if these stick.
Upon stepping onto the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, Smith-Pelly was greeted warmly.
Devante Smith-Pelly gets a rousing cheer from #Caps fans in Arlington as he hits the ice.
— Adam Zielonka (@Adam_Zielonka) April 20, 2019
Head coach Reirden had already said Smith-Pelly would play in Game Five. “With the situation where, to get his game back to where it was last year around this time,” Reirden said of Smith-Pelly’s assignment to Hershey, “it was important for him to play a lot of minutes.” Smith-Pelly played 20 games with the Bears.
Full RMNB Coverage of Game Five
Additional reporting from Elizabeth Kong.
Headline photo: @Capitals
