Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha is set to be a healthy scratch for the third time in the last five games when the Caps take on the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

Mantha previously sat in the press box for two games in a row last week but drew back into the lineup for the team’s last two games.

Here is how the team took the ice for their line rushes during warmups.

Lineys!#CapsWild | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/yTZh1XEUWw

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 17, 2023

Mantha, who earns $5.7 million against the salary cap, has played over 17 minutes of ice time in the Capitals’ past two games. The out-of-favor forward has recorded 23 points in 44 games for the Caps this season.

He will be replaced in the lineup by Nicolas Aube-Kubel who has not played since January 6 when he scored his second goal in as many games against the Nashville Predators. NAK will immediately jump onto the team’s top line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. Conor Sheary occupied that role in Monday’s win over the New York Islanders but is now slated to skate in the bottom six.

Lars Eller will also return to the lineup due to Nic Dowd’s injury against the Islanders.

Evgeny Kuznetsov will drop down a few lines as he is the center chosen to take Dowd’s spot on the typically ultra-defensively deployed fourth line. These changes are just the latest head-scratchers by head coach Peter Laviolette as he tries to find fits for players post the returns of Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB