Capitals going with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen against Rangers

The Washington Capitals’ lineup will look a little odd tonight with so many players out with injury.

The Capitals will play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Jonas Siegenthaler will be the extra defenseman.

Capitals lines vs NYR (11F/7D):

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Oshie-Panik
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
Sgarbossa-Sprong

Chara-Carlson
Dillon-TvR
Orlov-Jensen
Sigenthaler

Vanecek

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) February 4, 2021

Forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov (COVID list) Lars Eller (upper body), Conor Sheary (lower body); defenseman Justin Schultz (upper body); and goaltender Ilya Samsonov (COVID list) are all unavailable and will all not play tonight.

According to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said that Eller took the morning skate at Madison Square Garden, meaning he’s nearing a return. Eller was boarded and hit headfirst into the boards by Leo Komarov last week.

Lineys!#CapsRangers | @GEICO pic.twitter.com/elxuLOecrS

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 4, 2021

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB