Capitals Shake Up Lineup Again Amid Absences & More Questions

ARLINGTON, V.A. — Coming off back-to-back wins, the Washington Capitals have shaken up the lineup amid Connor Brown‘s injury, Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s suspension and other questions as the they seek a third straight win.

Perhaps the most notable change: the Capitals, who have stuck with mostly the same defensive pairings since last season, have finally changed things up after a slow start for the blue line. Dmitry Orlov moved up to the first pairing with John Carlson, while Martin Fehervary shifted down to play with Nick Jensen. The Erik Gustafsson-Trevor van Riemsdyk pairing stayed the same, as Laviolette mentioned he has been happy with Gustafsson and TVR’s play to open the year.

The forward lines also changed without Kuznetsov. Lars Eller moved up to the first line to play between Alex Ovechkin and Conor Sheary, who leads the club with three goals this season. Aliaksei Protas moved back up to the top 6, working on the second line with Dylan Strome and T.J. Oshie.

On the bottom 6, the team will finally see Connor McMichael and Joe Snively draw in for the first time. McMichael is centering the third line with Marcus Johansson and Anthony Mantha, while Snively is playing on the fourth line wing on the Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway line. Beck Malenstyn, who was called up on Wednesday, was the extra forward. He was skating on the fourth pairing with Matt Irwin.

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Kuznetsov (suspension) and Brown (lower-body injury) did not skate.

Here are the lines:

Alex Ovechkin-Lars Eller-Conor Sheary

T.J. Oshie-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas

Marcus Johansson-Connor McMichael-Anthony Mantha

Joe Snively-Nic Dowd-Garnet Hathaway

Dmitry Orlov-John Carlson

Martin Fehervary-Nick Jensen

Erik Gustafsson-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Darcy Kuemper

Charlie Lindgren

Washington is back in action on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. The team is coming off back-to-back wins, while the Senators captured their first win of the season on Tuesday with a 7-5 victory over the Boston Bruins.