Opening night at Capital One Arena started with a bang and ended with a whimper, as the Capitals proved to be a little too “early season” for their foes from New Jersey, ultimately falling 5-3.
They’ll get a chance to bounce back tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights, who kick off their first road trip of the season after going 3-0 to start the season at home. In preparation for the visitors, Coach Carbery did a little line-shuffling, shifting his captain to the right side and switching up the third line that got cratered against the Devils back on Saturday.
More on those new-look lines in a sec, but first, some admin stuff:
- Who: Capitals vs. Golden Knights
- Where: Capital One Arena
- When: 7:00 p.m.
- How to Watch: Monumental
- How to Listen: 106.7, Capitals Radio 24/7
Here’s how we expect tonight’s lines and defensive pairs to shake out, with Matt Roy sitting out with a lower-body injury and Logan Thompson in net to face his old squad:
Protas – Strome – Ovechkin
McMichael – Dubois – Wilson
Milano – Lapierre – Mangiapane
Duhaime – Dowd – Raddysh
Chychrun – Carlson
Fehervary – McIlrath
Sandin – van Riemsdyk
Thompson
Lindgren
On this date in 1974… The Capitals played their very first regular season game at their new home in Washington (well, technically Landover, MD), hosting the Los Angeles Kings. Yvon Labre scored the first and only goal for the home team, as the two teams dueled to a thrilling 1-1 tie.
Yes, kids, back in the heyday of the 70s, you could have a tie in the NHL. Game Notes