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Capitals lineup remains the same before Game Five, Tom Wilson doesn’t skate

By Chris Cerullo

 1 Comment

May 11, 2022 12:08 pm

The Washington Capitals are back in Sunrise, Florida for Game Five as their first-round series with the Panthers has turned into a best-of-three after the Panthers took Game Four in DC. The Caps can give themselves the opportunity to clinch on home ice in Game Six if they can win on the road Wednesday night.

According to The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell, Tom Wilson did not appear at the Capitals morning skate despite traveling with the team on their trip down south. Instead, the Caps lineup has remained exactly the same from the previous two games.

That lineup still includes Connor McMichael skating on the third line and TJ Oshie as the top-line right wing.

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Johansson-Backstrom-Mantha
McMichael-Eller-Sheary
Larsson-Dowd-Hathaway

Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TVR-Schultz

The Capitals’ fourth line remains their best statistically at five-on-five through four games. They are currently sporting a 64.3-percent expected goals percentage, which is even more impressive when considering that the vast majority of their ice time has come against Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau.

According to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, Ilya Samsonov will start again after three straight impressive postseason appearances. Samsonov was the tough-luck loser in Game Four after making 29 saves on 32 shots. His 3.4 goals saved above expected is ranked fourth among all goaltenders that have seen action in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

On the other side of the ice, Florida’s lineup due to an injury concern. Noted pest Mason Marchment is dealing with an injury that he has been nursing since the regular season ended. Panthers coach Andrew Brunette says that he is a game-time decision and if he cannot go, Maxim Mamim will replace him.

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