Yahoo Sports Capitals vs. Devils Preview: Line Combinations, Players To Watch, Storylines For Caps' Season Opener
WASHINGTON — After a long week of practice and anticipation, the regular season is finally here for the Washington Capitals, who kick things off on Saturday at home against the New Jersey Devils.
Here's everything to know before puck drop, which is at 7 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena.
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Washington Capitals Line Combinations
The Capitals will kick off the season with the lines that head coach Spencer Carbery implemented at the very start of training camp. That means Alex Ovechkin will start with Dylan Strome as his center, while Pierre-Luc Dubois will be on the second line.
Sonny Milano will get his first crack at third line left wing, winning a jersey over Jakub Vrana for opening night.
Charlie Lindgren will start in net, as new acquisition Logan Thompson will back up.
Here are the full combinations:
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Andrew Mangiapane
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano-Hendrix Lapierre-Aliaksei Protas
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun-John Carlson
Martin Fehervary-Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Power Play 1: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson
Power Play 2: Jakob Chychrun, Rasmus Sandin, Connor McMichael, Andrew Mangiapane, Hendrix Lapierre
Washington Capitals Players & Storylines To Watch
- Pierre-Luc Dubois will make his Capitals debut on Saturday on the second line. Look for him to try and start his tenure in D.C. on the right note after things didn't work out in L.A. Andrew Mangiapane will also be in the lineup, suiting up on the top trio with Ovechkin and Strome.
- Along with Dubois, Jakob Chychrun will also play in his first game for D.C., lining up on the top pairing with John Carlson. Watch for him to make an impact offensively. Matt Roy is the other new face on the blue line and will round out the top-4 with Martin Fehervary, and he's expected to provide shutdown minutes.
- Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh are also playing their first games with Washington and will be on the powerhouse fourth line with Nic Dowd. The trio combined for eight points in two outings together and have been a force to be reckoned with. Expect that to continue.
- Ovechkin begins his 20th NHL season just 42 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. Even as he closes in on 895, he is prioritizing winning another championship and wants to just enjoy the ride as much as he can, too.-
- Lindgren will get the start after an impressive 2023-24 campaign saw him rise to prominence and become the Capitals' full-time starter. He got some important starts in the preseason and will compete with Thompson in a 1A/1B situation, and a strong start would work great for helping him hold onto that No. 1 spot.
READ MORE ON THE HOCKEY NEWS
- Top moments from Caps 50 Fest
- Dylan McIlrath reflects on making an NHL opening night roster for the first time in 8 years
- Why the Capitals sent Andrew Cristall back to juniors
- Jakub Vrana signs one-year contract, full opening night roster
- Capitals & Carbery happy to have Vrana back in the mix, excited to work with forward again
