Capitals Notebook: Top-6 Changes Again, Lindgren Back, Thompson Starts vs. Penguins

The Washington Capitals will look a bit different when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, with the top-6 getting another tweak and Charlie Lindgren officially back in business.

Washington activated Lindgren off the injured reserve and re-assigned Hunter Shepard to the AHL's Hershey Bears. Lindgren has missed the last week of action after suffering an upper-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens, where he collided with Nick Suzuki in the crease and hit his head.

Lindgren will dress against Pittsburgh but will play second chair as he backs up Logan Thompson, who makes his fourth straight start.

Thompson is coming off back-to-back shutouts and has shown over the last three games that he can remain consistent with a bigger workload. His .924 save percentage is the third-best in the league, and he leads the NHL in points percentage thanks to his 20-2-3 record.

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While things will remain the same in goal, on defense and the bottom-6, the Capitals are making some tweaks to their top two forward lines.

Coach Spencer Carbery will reunite Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin after separating the two earlier in the week. Connor McMichael will play on that top unit, while Aliaksei Protas, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson will go to work on the second line to try and recapture their chemistry.

Washington has won three straight and has managed points in each of its last nine games, but 5-on-5 scoring remains a struggle. Regardless, the Capitals are in for a challenge against the Penguins, who are trying to climb back up the standings and coming off a big win over the Buffalo Sabres just 24 hours ago.