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Capitals Game Day

Capitals vs. Sharks: Defensive Debuts, Lineup Notes, Injury Updates

The Washington Capitals will see a new-look blue line, Vincent Iorio makes his NHL debut, Rasmus Sandin plays in his first game with D.C. and more lineup notes and updates as the team prepares to face the San Jose Sharks.

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After an intense week filled with unknowns for the Washington Capitals leading up to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, the waters have calmed as the team gets back into game action against the San Jose Sharks.

It'll be quite the matchup for Washington, who will see a whole new blue line take the ice with Rasmus Sandin making his highly-anticipated Capitals debut, while Vincent Iorio will make his NHL debut and Gabriel Carlsson will return to the big leagues as he plays his first game in a Washington jersey. Iorio and Carlsson were recalled on Friday with Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary dealing respective upper and lower-body injuries they suffered in Wednesday's overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Jensen and Fehervary's injuries aren't as severe as originally thought, with neither on the injured reserve at this time. Right now, though, there are just six defensemen available to the team following Dmitry Orlov and Erik Gustafsson's departures in pre-deadline deals.

Here are the lines:

Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Anthony Mantha-Nicklas Backstrom-Craig Smith

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-T.J. Oshie

Conor Sheary-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Alex Alexeyev-Matt Irwin

Gabriel Carlsson-Vincent Iorio

Darcy Kuemper will get the start. Charlie Lindgren started the last game against the Sharks.

Puck drop is at 6 p.m. ET at SAP Center. Here are other game notes and ice chips.

Washington Capitals Ice Chips

– Iorio and Carlsson are defensive partners down in Hershey, and Iorio is the first player making his NHL debut with Washington this season.

– Tom Wilson is coming off a two-goal performance and has struck in four of his last six games.

– Nicklas Backstrom has points in three of his last five games.

– Alex Ovechkin sits at 813 career goals. He has 14 goals and nine assists in 25 career outings against San Jose.