Per Stephen Whyno, Adam Oates has shifted his line combinations, selecting winger Aaron Volpatti to skate on the left side opposite of Alex Ovechkin on the first line and slotting Jack Hillen into the Capitals defense pairings. Hillen returns to the Capitals lineup after suffering an upper body injury on opening night. Michal Neuvirth will start his second straight game in goal for the Capitals. So expect the lines and defensive pairings to look like this:
Aaron Volpatti – Nicklas Backstrom – Alex Ovechkin
Eric Fehr – Marcus Johansson – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Mike Ribeiro – Joel Ward
That leaves John Erskine, Mike Green, Tomas Kundratek and Brooks Laich all out with injuries, and Mathieu Perreault and Wojtek Wolski out healthy (and Cameron Schilling returned to Hershey).