The Washington Capitals took the ice in Columbus on Tuesday for their last morning skate before the league pauses for All-Star festivities in Florida. The Caps will take on the Blue Jackets and then not play again until February 11 as their scheduled bye week of the season comes immediately when NHL games are planned to resume.

The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Charlie Lindgren will be in goal for the Capitals. Lindgren will get his first start since January 17 after regular number-one netminder Darcy Kuemper was pulled in two of the last four games.

Kuemper was first pulled against the Vegas Golden Knights on January 21. In that eventual 6-2 loss, he surrendered four goals on just 18 shots and lasted just 32 minutes into the contest.

Kuemper’s second early departure from the Caps’ cage came against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. In that game, the veteran goaltender allowed another four goals on just 20 shots in a 5-1 loss.

In the past four games overall, Kuemper has allowed 13 goals on 101 shots. The Caps have won just one of those matchups and it came in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After a tremendous December that saw Lindgren serve as the team’s de facto starter in net due to an injury to Kuemper, he has been shakier in January but so has the rest of the team in front of him. In just four total January appearances, Lindgren has posted an 0-2 record with a 3.20 goals-against average and a .845 save percentage.

Besides turning to Lindgren in the crease, head coach Peter Laviolette has also made a few tweaks to his forward lines. Here are those also via Pell.

Ovechkin-Strome-Sheary
Johansson-Backstrom-Oshie
Milano-Kuznetsov-Mantha
NAK-Eller-Hathaway

Gustafsson-TvR
Orlov-Jensen
Irwin-Fehervary

The team’s most successful top-line trio made up of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Conor Sheary has been reunited. In over 249 five-on-five minutes this season, the Caps have owned 51.5 percent of the shot attempts, 57.3 percent of the expected goals, 54 percent of the scoring chances, and 57.7 percent of the high-danger chances with them on the ice.

To make way for Sheary moving back to the first line, TJ Oshie has dropped down to play with Nicklas Backstrom. That’s a combination that has not worked in a very small sample size of 15:37 of five-on-five ice time. In those minutes the Caps have been out-attempted 12 to 9, out-scoring chanced 6 to 4, and out-high danger chanced 3 to 1.

The final changes come to the third line as Laviolette has put back together another trio that has been highly successful for him this season. Sonny Milano, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Anthony Mantha have dominated in over 73 minutes at five-on-five this season. The Caps see 57.7 percent of the shot attempts, 55.3 percent of the expected goals, and 62 percent of the scoring chances with them on the ice.

prep for the last go before the break pic.twitter.com/SmlgIAA0Xq

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 31, 2023

The Caps come into Tuesday night’s matchup on top of the race for the Wild Card playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets are at the exact opposite of the spectrum as they sit dead last in both the conference and Metropolitan Division.

With a win, the Caps would give themselves a bit of breathing room in a race that has gotten increasingly tighter in recent weeks. Both the Penguins (57 points) and Buffalo Sabres (56 points) sit right behind the Caps (58 points) and both teams have three games in hand.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB