The Washington Capitals will begin a three-game road trip with a matchup against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
In the Capitals’ last game, a 3-2 overtime defeat to the Colorado Avalanche, they lost winger Ethen Frank due to a lower-body injury. The injury, while not expected to keep Frank out long-term, will keep him out of Tuesday’s contest in St. Louis, allowing Ivan Miroshnichenko to step into the team’s lineup for the first time since January 19.
“Yep, Miro will come into the lineup,” head coach Spencer Carbery said pregame. “Franky is day-to-day.”
The Capitals recalled Miroshnichenko on March 6 after the trade deadline, and since then, he has sat out of eight straight games as a healthy scratch. Carbery said last week that he’d like to get Miroshnichenko into a game soon, and Frank’s injury presented that opportunity.
Frank suffered his injury when Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews shoved him into Colorado’s goal post during a net drive. He played just 1:22 of ice time in the first period before departing for the Capitals’ locker room.
According to the radio voice of the Capitals, John Walton, Miroshnichenko will sub straight in for Frank on the right wing of the team’s fourth line. The 22-year-old forward has featured in four prior games this season and has yet to find the scoresheet. He has never previously played against the Blues in his 43 career NHL games.
Projected Capitals lines for 3/24 game against Blues
Charlie Lindgren was the first goaltender off the ice for the Capitals, per NHL.com’s Lou Korac. Lindgren, a former Blues netminder, has not played since downing the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on March 12. In his career against St. Louis, Lindgren is 1-2-1 with a 3.22 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage.
The Capitals routed the Blues 6-1 in their first meeting this season on November 5, in which Alex Ovechkin scored his 900th career goal. After Ovechkin scored the goal, Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington bizarrely put the milestone puck into his pants before a linesman intervened and got the keepsake back.
St. Louis currently sits seventh in the NHL’s Central Division and 28th in the overall league standings. They won their last game 3-1 against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
