Per Mike Vogel, with just 12 forwards on the roster right now the Caps will likely stick with the same lineup up front that took two points in Columbus… but might be shaking up the defense a bit. What that means exactly isn’t known, but for now here’s what the forward lines and defensive pairs may look like in front of Braden Holtby:
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson
Marcus Johansson – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer
Brooks Laich – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Jason Chimera – Michael Latta – Jay Beagle
Braden Holtby
That leaves Justin Peters backing up Holtby, Jack Hillen (possibly) out as a healthy scratch, Dmitry Orlov and John Erskine still out with long-term injuries, Andre Burakovsky sticking it out a big longer in Hershey and Aaron Volpatti on a holiday break.