The Washington Capitals have yet to use the same lineup in back-to-back games this season, and that trend will continue against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
While previous changes have come for purely strategic reasons, the Capitals will look different against the Lightning primarily because of an injury suffered by top-six centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois. The 27-year-old forward did not participate in the team’s morning skate and was ruled out day to day by head coach Spencer Carbery.
Projected Capitals lineup against the Lightning
With Dubois out of action, Connor McMichael has been promoted into a top-six center position, where he’ll likely skate between Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. The three key forwards have rarely played together over the past few seasons, sharing just 37:34 of five-on-five ice time since the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign.
Hendrix Lapierre will also draw back into the lineup after sitting out as a healthy scratch against the Rangers on Sunday. Lapierre did not record a point and skated on average 10:02 of ice time in the first two games of the season against the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders.
“Reliable minutes is what we’re looking for,” Carbery said Tuesday. [Lapierre] doesn’t have to save the world, doesn’t have to score a goal, doesn’t have to get a point. We just need good, strong, solid minutes from him, reliable with his reads and puck decisions, good defensively. Chip in, hopefully, with being able to control some play. Again, not score, control some play. So get in the offensive zone, stay there for a shift.”
On the top line, Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome have been reunited with Anthony Beauvillier, reforming a unit that was successful at the end of last season and into the playoffs. Ovechkin and Beauvillier combined on the Capitals’ lone goal against the Rangers, with Ovechkin playing provider to Beauvillier.
“I think Beau is a good complement to Stromer and O,” Carbery said. “He gives them a little bit more tenacity on the puck, really good pace, constantly moving his feet. He’s a really smart player, and he’s played with elite players throughout his career. He has a good feel for what they see, how they play, what they need him to do.
“I think he does a really good job of knowing where to go, what to do. And then he also brings that Energizer Bunny type of play where he’s going to be on top of the puck. He’s going to win one-on-one 50-50 puck situations to try to help drive that line or help keep pucks alive for those two guys.”
The only change on defense will see Trevor van Riemsdyk moved back onto his typical pairing with Jakob Chychrun after TVR was replaced by Declan Chisholm against the Rangers. TVR skated 15:02 of ice time and was a plus-2 in his last game, a 4-2 win over the Islanders.
Logan Thompson will be back in net for the Capitals after sitting second chair to Charlie Lindgren’s phenomenal shutout performance against the Rangers. Thompson played just once against the Lightning last season, giving up two goals on 18 shots in a 3-1 home loss.
Tampa Bay (1-2) comes into the game having won their first game of the season, 4-3 against the Boston Bruins, on Monday. Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the start at Capital One Arena after Jonas Johansson played the first half of their back-to-back.
