The Washington Capitals are back from their West Coast road trip and set to take on the New Jersey Devils at home on Thursday. They jumped on the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Wednesday with a couple of interesting shifts to their lineup.

Anthony Mantha has been promoted to the team’s top line with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Mantha is on an 18-game goalless streak.

Here is how the team fully lined up at practice via NBC Sports Washington’s Matt Weyrich.

Mantha is without a goal for 18 games and also without a point of any kind for 11 games. He has rarely played with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov this season, joining them for just over 24 minutes of ice time at five-on-five. In those minutes the Caps have scored once and their opponents have scored once.

Since Mantha joined the team in 2021, the three have shared the ice for just over 30 minutes at five-on-five overall. In those minutes they’ve seen 48.1 percent of the shot attempts, 57.4 percent of the expected goals, 52 percent of the scoring chances, and 59.6 percent of the high-danger chances.

Mantha’s promotion up a line has forced Tom Wilson down to the second line. Since returning from injury against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Stadium Series game on February 18, Wilson is tied for the team lead in goal scoring with five goals and second on the team in overall scoring with seven points.

With the right side of the top six now full, TJ Oshie, the team leader in both of those categories (5g, 3a) has been slotted on the third line in what was trade deadline acquisition Craig Smith’s spot. Smith was not at practice on Wednesday as he needed to head home and grab more of his stuff before returning to the Caps.

The only change on the backend comes in the form of a seemingly healthy Martin Fehervary. His return has led to rookie Vincent Iorio being the new extra man on the blueline. Fehervary has not played since suffering a lower-body injury against the Anaheim Ducks a week ago.

Head coach Peter Laviolette told Weyrich that Fehervary is still considered “day-to-day” and isn’t a definite for the game against the Devils. Lavy added that Nick Jensen, who skated in a non-contact jersey, will “most likely” be unavailable as well.

The Caps’ home stint will be a short one as after they’re done with the Devils, they’ll head back out onto the road for two in a row against New York competition in the Islanders and Rangers.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB