Per Mike Vogel, change has come yet again to three of the Caps’ four lines, with Marcus Johansson, Jason Chimera and Andre Burakovsky playing musical chairs (and Jack Hillen returning to the lineup on the back end). So here’s a look at what the lines and defensive pairings should be against the ‘Canes tonight, with Braden Holtby between the pipes:
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Marcus Johansson
Jason Chimera – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer
Brooks Laich – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Andre Burakovsky – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Jack Hillen – Mike Green
Braden Holtby
That leaves Justin Peters backing up Holtby, Michael Latta, Aaron Volpatti and Cameron Schilling as healthy scratches, and Dmitry Orlov and John Erskine still on the IR.