Alex Ovechkin will play in his first preseason game of the season Wednesday night.
Twenty-four hours after losing 4-2 to the Boston Bruins, the Washington Capitals will take the ice for the second half of an early preseason back-to-back against the New Jersey Devils, sporting most of the other half of their roster that didn’t play the night before at Prudential Center.
Take at look at the Caps taking the ice tonight in New Jersey!#CapsDevils | #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/0zHp7WxZxL
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 25, 2024
The Capitals will get their first in-game look at Ovechkin’s line with Dylan Strome and Andrew Mangiapane, which skated together again at the pregame skate on Wednesday. Head coach Spencer Carbery has explored playing Ovi on the right some during Training Camp, but he has primarily remained on his natural left wing.
Nic Dowd’s line with Taylor Raddysh and Brandon Duhaime are also expected to get their first test of the season, while John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun will make their debuts as the team’s first defensive pairing.
Other veterans set to play Wednesday night include Logan Thompson and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Jakub Vrana, who remains with the Capitals on a PTO, is expected to play his second game of the preseason.
These could be the lines and pairings against the Devils, per Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir.
Expect the #Caps’ lines, pairs and goalies to line up like this tonight at NJD:
Ovechkin-Strome-Mangiapane
Duhaime-Dowd-Raddysh
Vrana-Sgarbossa-Limoges
Suzdalev-Sutter-TrineyevChychrun-Carlson
Alexeyev-TvR
Massie-McIlrathThompson
Gibson— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 25, 2024
The Capitals are 0-2 in the preseason thus far, outscored a combined 10-4 by the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins.
The Devils, also winless in both of their games, played the Montreal Canadiens north of the border on Tuesday night, getting shut out 3-0.
Tonight’s matchup marks the Capitals’ third of six preseason games before Opening Night on October 12 against the Devils.
