The Washington Capitals return home after a four-game road trip. They are set to host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena on Sunday night.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Capitals currently lead both the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division, while Columbus sits in last place in the Metro. However, both teams are only separated by five points.
The Capitals just went 3-0-1 in their most recent road trip, with the final three games taking place in California. The last game was a 4-3 shootout loss to Anaheim on Friday night.
The Capitals played 245 minutes over the course of the trip, as they never once trailed at any point. They were also the only team in the NHL that was never behind on the scoreboard over the last week.
However, despite the successful road trip, the Capitals have also been dealing with multiple injuries. Nic Dowd missed the first two games, Justin Sourdif had to sit one game, and John Carlson missed the final two. Charlie Lindgren won his most recent start against San Jose on Dec. 3, but also went down with an ailment.
But the biggest and most significant injury was Ryan Leonard. In the Capitals’ shootout loss to Anaheim, Leonard took a high hit from Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba and was in major pain. Head coach Spencer Carbery stated that Leonard was “going to be out.”
In response to the Leonard and Lindgren injuries, the Capitals recalled forward Bogdan Trineyev and goalie Clay Stevenson from AHL Hershey.
Sunday night’s game will be the third meeting between the Capitals and Columbus this season, with Washington already taking the first two matchups.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Anthony Beauvillier – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas – Justin Sourdif – Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael – Nic Dowd – Sonny Milano
Brandon Duhaime – Hendrix Lapierre – Ethen Frank
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary – Rasmus Sandin
Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy
Declan Chisholm – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goalie
Logan Thompson
Expected Blue Jackets Lines
Forwards
Dimitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kent Johnson
Kirill Marchenko – Sean Monahan – Cole Sillinger
Luca Del Bel Belluz – Charlie Coyle – Isac Lundestrom
Miles Wood – Brendan Gaunce – Yegor Chinakhov
Defensemen
Zach Werenski – Ivan Provorov
Denton Mateychuk – Damon Severson
Brendan Smith – Dante Fabbro
Goalie
Jet Greaves
How to Watch
TV: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network
