Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery announced that defenseman Ethan Bear will make his Capitals debut against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. Bear jumps into the lineup after Martin Fehervary was taken out of action with an injury in Friday night’s loss to the New York Islanders.
The Capitals officially signed Bear to a two-year contract on Thursday after he had already been skating and practicing with the team since December 20. The 26-year-old rearguard has not played in an NHL game since April 13th with the Vancouver Canucks.
Caps defense pairings
Sandin-Carlson
TVR-Bear
Edmundson-Jensen
Per The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, Bear will start on a pairing with Trevor van Riemsdyk. TVR, also right-handed, will move to his off-hand side which he has done in the past for the Capitals.
Before Fehervary went down with injury, TVR appeared to be the player coming out of the lineup.
Rasmus Sandin will shift back up to the top pairing to play next to John Carlson. The Nick Jensen and Joel Edmundson duo remains the only constant on the backend.
The Capitals also recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard earlier on Saturday after Charlie Lindgren went down with his own injury early in the game against the Islanders. Carbery revealed that Shepard will get his third career NHL start after Darcy Kuemper took the loss on Long Island on Friday night.
The 28-year-old netminder made his NHL debut earlier this season against the New Jersey Devils. In 16 games for Hershey this season, Shepard has amassed a 14-2 record with a 2.28 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and one shutout.
While veteran forward Max Pacioretty initially seemed to be on the same return track as Bear, the Capitals’ marquee summer addition is not ready just yet to make his return from Achilles tendon surgery. The Capitals play Pacioretty’s former team, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Friday next week.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
