Capitals Notebook: Capitals Set Opening Night Lines, McMichael Extra D-Man

ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals have experimented with their first lines with the official opening night roster ahead of Wednesday’s season opener against the Boston Bruins and saw some interesting combinations.

Aliaksei Protas’ hard work and effort through training camp worked out, as it landed him a spot on the top-6 alongside Dylan Strome and Anthony Mantha. Meanwhile, Connor McMichael got booted out and is on the extra defensive pairing with Matt Irwin. Joe Snively is an extra forward rotating in.

Here are the lines from Tuesday:

Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Connor Brown

Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Anthony Mantha

Marcus Johansson-Lars Eller-T.J. Oshie

Conor Sheary-Nic Dowd-Garnet Hathaway

Joe Snively

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov-Nick Jensen

Erik Gustafsson-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Matt Irwin-Connor McMichael

Darcy Kuemper

Charlie Lindgren

Conor Sheary, meanwhile, will be the first to fill in on that fourth line for Carl Hagelin alongside Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway. Hagelin underwent hip surgery on Monday that will hold him out indefinitely.

2 More Capitals Undergo Surgery, 5 Now Recovering From Major Procedures

Meanwhile, head coach Peter Laviolette still has to talk to trainers, but he expects T.J. Oshie and Dmitry Orlov (day-to-day) to be ready for Wednesday’s season opener.