The trade deadline has come and gone, and with it Dustin Penner and Jaroslav Halak have come… and Martin Erat and Michal Neuvirth have gone.
Per reports out of Philly, Penner will make his Caps debut tonight, as will Ryan Stoa, with Braden Holtby once again getting the nod in net (his sixth-straight start). With Dmitry Orlov serving the first game of his two-game suspension and Jack Hillen returning to the lineup, expect the lines and defensive pairings to look something like this:
Brooks Laich – Nicklas Backstrom – Alex Ovechkin
Dustin Penner – Marcus Johansson – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Ryan Stoa – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Halak will be a healthy scratch (he’ll join the team in Boston tomorrow), Orlov’s suspended, Mikhail Grabovski and Aaron Volpatti are out with injuries, and Philipp Grubauer (recalled on an emergency basis) will be backing up Holtby. Whew!