The Washington Capitals are set to take on the Dallas Stars in Texas Friday night and we got a peek at what their lineup could look like via an optional morning skate.

The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson all took advantage of their option and did not attend the skate. Current injured reserve resident, Nick Jensen was however on the ice and local boy Joe Snively will get his second taste of NHL action.

The Herndon, Virginia native and former member of the Little Caps, Snively got into his first NHL game on December 19 at home against the Los Angeles Kings. He skated 6:53 of total ice time and recorded his first NHL point on a first period Connor McMichael goal.

“It was pretty thrilling,” Snively told NBC Sports Washington’s Al Koken about his debut. “Nerves were going. Adrenaline was pumping. It was a lot of fun!”

The 26-year-old forward, who for now is still officially just on the taxi squad, currently leads the AHL’s Hershey Bears in scoring with 38 points in 35 games. That total also sees him third overall in the entire league. He recently had a nine-game point streak snapped but has responded with six points in his last three games.

Head coach Peter Laviolette gave his usual “working through things in the room” answer to reporters which usually indicates some sort of absence due to injury or COVID could occur. Veterans skipping an optional skate however isn’t exactly rare, but Ovechkin has taken a handful of maintenance days recently and was nursing an upper-body injury of sorts only a few weeks ago. Jensen taking the skate after practicing in a non-contact jersey this week is a good sign that his initial week-to-week diagnosis could be more day-to-day at this point. He participated in extra work after the skate with Aliaksei Protas, Brett Leason, and Dennis Cholowski which usually indicates who is going to be deemed extra for the game.

Pell also reports that goaltender Vitek Vanecek will be in the net opposite Braden Holtby. Vanecek had started four games in a row before Ilya Samsonov was put between the pipes against the Sharks on Wednesday.

The Stars currently sit fifth in the NHL’s Central Division with a 22-16-2 record and are hot right now as they’ll take on the Caps currently riding a four-game winning streak. They are one of three teams in the Western Conference currently sitting at 46 points and vying for the last Wild Card playoff spot.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB