The Washington Capitals have just one preseason exhibition game remaining on their schedule and it’ll take place Saturday night in DC. The Caps and Blue Jackets will match up inside of Capital One Arena as final preparations for the regular season get underway.
Saturday morning, the Capitals announced their roster for the game, and as expected the only team regulars missing are those that are day-to-day with injuries like TJ Oshie and Dmitry Orlov.
You can catch all of the action on NBC Sports Washington with puck drop set for 7 pm.
The roster for the final preseason game tonight against Columbus at Capital One Arena.#CapsJackets | #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/rxA4JYtCgM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 8, 2022
Given that this final preseason game is the last time the Caps will take the ice for game action before it truly “counts”, most of the lines and defensive pairings should closely resemble what head coach Peter Laviolette believes to be his strongest team.
The only surefire absences from that strongest group will come in the form of Oshie and Orlov. Oshie skated before the team’s practice on Friday after suffering an upper-body injury against the Detroit Red Wings. Orlov has missed two straight days of practice with what the team is labeling a lower-body injury.
Anthony Mantha will likely get back into the swing of things after missing a previous game due to the birth of his first child. He should join captain Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson, and the rest of the main healthy offensive contributors on the ice.
Notable names that could be in action that are still vying for the last few open spots on the eventual regular season roster include Aliaksei Protas, Henrik Borgstrom, Joe Snively, and Lucas Johansen. If Protas were to get into the lineup again, he will have played in every single game this preseason (6) as the coaching staff has clearly wanted to give him an extended look.
“He continually gets called back up because of his game and the way he is playing the game,” Laviolette said previously of Protas.
The Capitals will open their regular season in just four days with their home opener against the Boston Bruins.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
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