Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden appears to have set his initial forward lines nine days before the team is scheduled to fly to Toronto for the 24-team playoff.
Reirden continues to group the 2018 Stanley Cup trio of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson together on the first line while Nicklas Backstrom has been reunited with his normal partners on the second. And yes, the HEK line is back.
Forward Lines
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Kovalchuk
Panik-Dowd-Hathaway
Extras: Malenstyn-Boyd/Maillet-Sprong
Gersich-McMichael-Pinho
The Capitals’ bottom-six remains the same from when the regular season was called due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 12. Capitals’ top prospect Connor McMichael is skating as the team’s fifth center as an extra. Earlier this week, Reirden said it was possible the 19-year-old could make his NHL debut during the 2020 postseason.
Defense pairings
Kempny-Carlson
Dillon-Orlov
Fehervary-Gudas
Siegenthaler-Jensen
Extra: Lewington
The Capitals’ defense pairings appear much more in flux. After skating with John Carlson on the top pair days ago, Jonas Siegenthaler was matched with Nick Jensen. It’s unclear which pairing would sit out games as all four are strong in their own ways.
Capitals lines and D pairs in first practice group today:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Hagelin-Eller-Kovalchuk
Gersich-McMichael-Pinho
PilonKempny-Carlson
Siegenthaler JensenHoltby
Copley— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) July 17, 2020
Capitals lines and D pair in second practice group:
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Panik-Dowd-Hathaway
Malenstyn-Boyd/Maillet-SprongDillon-Orlov
Fehervary-Gudas
LewingtonVanecek
Leonhardt— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) July 17, 2020
Meanwhile, Capitals’ backup goaltender Ilya Samsonov missed his fourth straight practice along with defense prospect Alex Alexeyev. The reason why is unclear as teams do not have to disclose medical reasons why players don’t take the ice.
Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB
