The Washington Capitals (22-15-6) finish their three-game homestand on Wednesday night. They will host the Dallas Stars (25-10-8) at Capital One Arena.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Capitals are coming off the second of their three-game homestand, where they beat Anaheim 7-4 on Monday night.
Justin Sourdif went off for his first career hat trick, along with two assists, to finish with five points. Sourdif became the first Capitals rookie to record a hat trick since Alex Ovechkin – also against Anaheim – on Jan. 13, 2006.
Also in the game, Connor McMichael recorded four assists while Ovechkin chimed in with two goals of his own. The Great 8 now has 914 tallies in his career.
The Capitals went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, due to injuries to Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas. Thankfully, the line of McMichael, Sourdif, and Ryan Leonard turned out to be a successful one.
For Wednesday’s game, the Capitals recalled Brett Leason from AHL Hershey to be the extra forward, with Protas being placed on IR. Wilson will also remain out, but should return soon.
Meanwhile, Dallas will be finishing a set of back-to-backs against the Capitals on Wednesday. They were just in Raleigh where they fell to Carolina 6-3 on Tuesday.
Dallas has dropped its last six decisions (0-6-6) with the last win coming on Dec. 21. Nevertheless, the team still holds the second-best record in the Western Conference.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael – Justin Sourdif – Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Ethen Frank
Brett Leason – Hendrix Lapierre – Sonny Milano
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Dylan McIlrath
Goalie
Logan Thompson
Expected Stars Lines
Forwards
Matt Duchene – Wyatt Johnston – Mikko Rantanen
Jason Robertson – Roope Hintz – Mavrik Bourque
Justin Hryckowian – Sam Steel – Nathan Bastian
Oskar Back – Radek Faksa – Colin Blackwell
Defensemen
Esa Lindell – Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley – Kyle Capobianco
Ilya Lyubushkin – Nils Lundkvist
Goalie
Casey DeSmith
How to Watch
TV: TNT, HBO Max
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network
