Per Alex Prewitt, Tom Wilson and Brooks Laich will sit out against the Blue Jackets with various bumps and bruises… which means a return to everyone’s favorite thing in the world, Jay Beagle back on the top line. With that little addition (and Braden Holtby back between the pipes), here’s what tonight’s lines and defensive pairings should look like:
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Jay Beagle
Marcus Johansson – Andre Burakovsky– Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Liam O’Brien – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Michael Latta
That leaves Justin Peters backing up Holtby, Jack Hillen as a healthy scratch, and Laich, Wilson, Dmitry Orlov, John Erskine and Aaron Volpatti all out with injuries.