The Washington Capitals are slowly getting healthier and the latest example of that was injured defenseman Dmitry Orlov joining the team in Seattle mid-way through their western road trip.
Orlov has missed 11 straight games with a lower-body injury.
The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell was the first to report Orlov’s presence. The 31-year-old blueliner did not travel with the team to either New Jersey or Vancouver so his arrival could signal a return is in the cards sooner rather than later.
That return will not come against the Kraken however as at the morning skate Orlov took line rushes on the extra defense pair with Russian countryman Alex Alexeyev. If the Caps were to activate Orlov from the injured reserve during this trip, they’d need to make a corresponding move for him to fit on the 23-man roster.
The rest of the Capitals lineup remains the same as the team that took down the Canucks on Tuesday. That includes the first line which has been a great success since being put together.
#Caps lines and pairs ahead of SEA:
Ovechkin-Strome-Sheary
Milano-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Johansson-Eller-Mantha
Protas-Dowd-Hathaway
Extras: Snively and NAKGustafsson-Carlson
Fehervary-Jensen
Irwin-TvR
Extras: Orlov and Alexeyev pic.twitter.com/kBJlRKEnTl— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) December 1, 2022
That top trio consisting of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Conor Sheary when on the ice at five-on-five (90:34 TOI) has seen 54.5-percent of the shot attempts, 59 percent of the expected goals, 58.7 percent of the scoring chances, and 57.5 percent of the high-danger chances.
Ovechkin scored two goals against the Canucks to make him the NHL’s all-time leader in road goals.
he seas you pic.twitter.com/otZ8Ze1fPE
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 1, 2022
Darcy Kuemper will be the Capitals’ starting netminder after a 31-save performance in Vancouver gave him his eighth win of the season. Kuemper has won his last three starts and has a 1.00 goals-against average, a .966 save percentage, and a shutout in those games.
The Kraken will come into the action red hot, winners of six in a row. They currently sit second in the NHL’s Pacific Division behind only the Vegas Golden Knights.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
