The Washington Capitals are in Utah for the second leg of their three-game road trip out west. Ahead of their game against the Mammoth, the club was joined on the ice by trade deadline acquisition David Kampf for the first time since he and his wife welcomed his second child, a daughter, back in Vancouver on March 19.
Kampf was traded to the Capitals by the Canucks on March 6 and has yet to make his debut with the team, first due to visa issues and then to attend to fatherly duties. According to the Capitals’ John Walton, he didn’t take line rushes, but head coach Spencer Carbery did not rule him out for Thursday night’s matchup.
“We’re working through a couple things, so [the lineup] may alter a little bit, so I won’t commit to anything,” Carbery said pregame. “We’ll see about tonight (for Kampf), but good to have him back. He was skating a little bit when he was out in Vancouver after the birth of his child. Whether it’s tonight or Vegas, we’ll see, but we’re just trying to get him up to speed as quickly as we can.”
If Kampf does not dress, the team’s lineup appears to be the same from their shutout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. Kampf would be a healthy scratch along with fellow deadline add Timothy Liljegren, Dylan McIlrath, and Declan Chisholm in the press box.
Projected Capitals lines for 3/26 game against Mammoth
Ethen Frank is still out of action due to the lower-body injury he suffered against the Colorado Avalanche last Sunday, but he did skate in a light blue, no-contact jersey. His absence means that Ivan Miroshnichenko will play in a second straight game after he received 9:22 of ice time in St. Louis.
Miroshnichenko has yet to record a point in five games this season after he notched four (1g, 3a) in 18 games last year. The 22-year-old winger was recalled at the deadline, and the loss to the Blues was his first outing after sitting out healthy for eight games.
Logan Thompson is set for his sixth straight start in net after taking the loss in St. Louis. He started against the Mammoth earlier this month, making 20 saves in a 3-2 defeat at Capital One Arena. Thompson’s opposing netminder will be former Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek, making his 18th start for the Mammoth this season.
The Mammoth currently hold the first wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference. They dropped their last game 5-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Thursday’s game will be the Capitals’ first visit to the Delta Center since captain Alex Ovechkin broke his leg there on November 18, 2024.
