Per Mike Vogel, Brooks Laich did not make the trip to Pittsburgh and will be replaced by Casey Wellman tonight, while Jaroslav Halak will take over crease duties for a third-straight game and second-straight night.
Aside from that, well… no morning skate means no clues on what lineup Adam Oates might throw out to wrap up the season set with the Penguins. But with a sudden lack of centers and a promise to “ease” Evgeny Kuznetsov into regular duty, here’s one of about eighty billion possibilities for tonight’s lines and defensive pairs:
Marcus Johansson – Nicklas Backstrom – Alex Ovechkin
Dustin Penner – Jay Beagle – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Casey Wellman – Tom Wilson
…or something like that.
So that leaves Brooks Laich, John Erskine, Mikhail Grabovski and Aaron Volpatti out with injuries, and Braden Holtby backing up Halak. Again.