Mike Vogel brings word that Brooks Laich is headed back to DC and John Erskine is ailing – which means yet another pair of call-ups from Hershey, with recently-acquired forward Chris Brown set to make his Caps’ debut and Cameron Schilling drawing in on the blue line. Braden Holtby gets back in net a night after getting the hook in Philly.
So with that in mind…here’s a stab at tonight’s lines and defensive pairs:
Dustin Penner – Nicklas Backstrom – Alex Ovechkin
Chris Brown – Marcus Johansson – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Ryan Stoa – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Cameron Schilling – Connor Carrick
That leaves Dmitry Orlov to finish out his two-game suspension, Laich, Erskine, Mikhail Grabovski and Aaron Volpatti out with injuries, and shiny new goaltender Jaroslav Halak backing up Holtby.