The Washington Capitals (11-9-2) continue their four-game homestand on the week of Thanksgiving. They will host the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-8-3) at Capital One Arena on Monday night.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Capitals are looking to bounce back after a 5-3 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. Nevertheless, the Capitals have picked up a point in five of their last seven games (4-2-1).
In Saturday night’s homestand opener, the Capitals jumped out to a 1-0 lead early on thanks to Justin Sourdif’s third goal of the season.
The Capitals then went on the power play 93 seconds later. However, they gave up a shorthanded goal from Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel 14 seconds into the man advantage. This marked the fifth time in three games the Capitals gave up a goal less than two minutes after scoring a tally of their own.
Things got worse when Tampa Bay scored on the power play and then twice more at even strength at the end of the first period. At that point, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery pulled Logan Thompson for Charlie Lindgren after Thompson surrendered four goals on six shots.
On the positive side of things, Jakob Chychrun recorded a goal and an assist, extending his career best point streak to seven games (three goals, six assists). He now has six tallies on the season and trails only Islanders rookie Matthew Schafer (seven) for most goals by a defenseman this season.
The last time the Capitals faced Columbus was on the road on Oct. 24. The game was scoreless late in the second period when the Capitals scored three goals – from Carlson in the second, Alex Ovechkin and Sourdif in the third – in less than five minutes. Thompson also had a dominant 34-save performance in net as the Capitals won 5-1.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier
Aliaksei Protas – Justin Sourdif – Tom Wilson
Brandon Duhaime – Connor McMichael – Ryan Leonard
Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Ethen Frank
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Jacob Chychrun – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Declan Chisholm
Goalie
Logan Thompson
Expected Blue Jackets Lines
Forwards
Dmitri Volonkov – Adam Fantilli – Yegor Chinakhov
Miles Wood – Sean Monahan – Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Oliver
Zach-Aston Reese – Brendan Gaunce – Isac Lundestrom
Defensemen
Zach Werenski – Ivan Provorov
Denton Mateychuk – Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen – Dante Fabbro
Goalie
Elvis Merzlikins
How to Watch
TV: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network
