The Washington Capitals will play the Boston Bruins again Monday night in a rematch from Saturday. The Capitals will continue to be without several of their stars and important depth pieces.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov remain on the COVID Unavailability List for a 12th consecutive day. Lars Eller and Justin Schultz will again not play due to injury.
On the lines front, Peter Laviolette made several notable changes.
#Caps lines at a.m. skate ahead of BOS:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Sheary-Oshie-Panik
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
Vrana-Sgarbossa-SprongChara-Carlson
Dillon-TvR
Orlov-Jensen
Siegenthaler-FehervaryVanecek
AndersonEller, Schultz, Kuznetsov and Samsonov are not on the ice.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 1, 2021
Alex Ovechkin was bumped back up to the first line with Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson while Jakub Vrana was bumped down to the fourth. After scoring three goals and five points in the Caps’ first five games, Vrana has cooled off considerably, posting only one point (an assist) and five shots in the following four contests.
Laviolette pointed to Conor Sheary’s good play of late as one of the reasons that inspired his promotion to the second line.
Laviolette re Sheary moving up to the 2nd line, Vrana on the 4th:
"Conor's played really well … the lines are going to change a little bit based on players coming in and out of the lineup. I think that creates a good environment where you've got to compete for your ice time."
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 1, 2021
On defense, Dmitry Orlov was plugged back into the lineup and will skate with Nick Jensen on the third pairing. Meanwhile, Zdeno Chara will skate on the first pair with John Carlson.
After practice ended, injured centers Brian Pinho and Lars Eller took to the ice and skated in no-contact jerseys.
As the morning skate comes to an end, Pinho and Eller have joined in no-contact jerseys. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 1, 2021
The Capitals are first place in the MassMutual East and tied for first in the NHL with 15 standings points in their first nine games. The Caps and Florida Panthers are the only teams to have not lost in regulation so far this season.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
