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Capitals Game Day

Capitals Game Day: Big Changes With Shot At Redemption vs. Canadiens

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The Washington Capitals are seeing a new-look Kuznetsov entering 2021-22.

ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals are back in action on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, and they will have a new look to the lineup as they look for win No. 1 of the 2022-23 campaign.

Washington dropped its first two games of the season with back-to-back losses on Wednesday and Thursday, marking the first time the team has started 0-2-0 in nearly a decade. The struggles have been visible across the lineup, with the forward lines not clicking and the defensive coverage lacking. But mainly, the Capitals power play is not working and is a big reason for those defeats. So, on Saturday, the team made some changes with hopes to stop the bleeding.

Here were the line combinations from Saturday’s morning skate:

Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Connor Brown

Anthony Mantha-Evgeny Kuznetsov-T.J. Oshie

Marcus Johansson-Lars Eller-Aliaksei Protas

Conor Sheary-Nic Dowd-Garnet Hathaway

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov-Nick Jensen

Erik Gustafsson-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Darcy Kuemper

Charlie Lindgren

Not only did Evgeny Kuznetsov get moved down to the second line, but he also got taken off the first power-play unit following a disastrous start for the man advantage, which has gone 0-for-9 to open the campaign. Marcus Johansson took his place on PP1, but it was Dylan Strome who was working the half wall.

Kuemper will get his second start of the season. The 32-year-old surrendered four goals on 30 shots in the season opener against the Boston Bruins, though poor coverage gave him little change to stop a couple of those tallies. Meanwhile, Charlie Lindgren, who had a standout showing against the Toronto Maple Leafs with 36 saves on 39 shots, will back up.

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A couple names to watch: look out for Alex Ovechkin. He is still looking for goal No. 1 of the season, and he usually is able to get it by at least the third game of the season. He had some good looks last game, but maybe a new line combination will help him get going. Also look out for Johansson, who had a goal last game and will also get a promotion to PP1 for this tilt. In addition, Nic Dowd and Erik Gustafsson have points in back-to-back games.

On the flip side, look for Cole Caufield to be dangerous as he kicked off the season with two goals in two games. Also, keep an eye on new additions Sean Monahan and Kirby Dach.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. at Captial One Arena.