Per Katie Carrera, the Caps will reunite Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin on the top line (with faux-winger Mikhail Grabovski on the other side), and recently-recalled Tyson Strachan draws in on the blue line. With Jaroslav Halak expected to start the first of the weekend's back-to-back games, here's what the lines and defensive pairs should look like tonight:
Mikhail Grabovski - Nicklas Backstrom - Alex Ovechkin
Marcus Johansson - Jay Beagle - Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera - Eric Fehr - Joel Ward
Dustin Penner - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Julien Brouillette- Mike Green
Dmitry Orlov - Tyson Strachan
That leaves Connor Carrick and John Erskine out as healthy scratches, Brooks Laich and Aaron Volpatti out with injuries, and Braden Holtby as Halak's backup.