ARLINGTON, Va. -- Washington Capitals forward Curtis Glencross will play in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Islanders on Monday at Verizon Center (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports 2, MSG+, CSN-DC), Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.

"He can be a difference maker for us," Trotz said. "He's a guy that has scored big goals and he's new blood into the lineup, which is good. He can play a real gritty game, he can score some goals. I'm expecting him to be a good player for us tonight."

Glencross was scratched for three games because he wasn't playing at an acceptable level, according to Trotz. But with injured forward Eric Fehr unavailable for Game 7, Washington will lean on Glencross' experience.

Glencross was scoreless through three games in the series, but hopes he can bring a positive element to Game 7.

"It's the biggest game of my career," Glencross said. "I'm excited to get back in there and have a good night tonight."

Rookie forward Michael Latta will be a healthy scratch to make room for Glencross. Latta has no points in four Stanley Cup Playoff games. Trotz shuffled Washington's fourth line at the morning skate, moving Brooks Laich to center in place of Latta. Glencross will take Laich's place at left wing.

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, forward Nicklas Backstrom and defenseman Mike Green will each play in the eighth Game 7 of their respective careers. Washington is 3-9-0 in Game 7s since 1987 but Ovechkin said he's not worried about any of that and it's all in the past.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy, so we just have to finish it up," Ovechkin said. "If you lose, you go home. If you win, you play for a Stanley Cup. We just have to do our thing."

Goalie Philipp Grubauer will be Braden Holtby's backup for the third consecutive game. Forward Tom Wilson skated seven shifts in Game 6 but Trotz said he expects him to have a bigger impact in Game 7.

Here are the projected lineups:

ISLANDERS

Brock Nelson - John Tavares - Ryan Strome

Josh Bailey - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo

Nikolay Kulemin - Mikhail Grabovski - Colin McDonald

Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck

Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk

Thomas Hickey - Brian Strait

Matt Donovan - Scott Mayfield

Scratched: Anders Lee, Tyler Kennedy, Eric Boulton, Michael Grabner, Ryan Pulock, Griffin Reinhart

Injured: Travis Hamonic, Lubomir Visnovsky, Calvin de Haan

CAPITALS

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Joel Ward

Marcus Johansson – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Jason Chimera

Andre Burakovsky – Jay Beagle – Troy Brouwer

Curtis Glencross – Brooks Laich – Tom Wilson

Brooks Orpik – John Carlson

Matt Niskanen – Karl Alzner

Mike Green – Tim Gleason

Braden Holtby

Philipp Grubauer

Scratched: Justin Peters, Michael Latta

Injured: Dmitry Orlov (wrist), John Erskine (neck surgery), Eric Fehr (upper body)

Status report: Fehr skated for the second consecutive day after Washington's morning skate. Orlov also skated after the rest of the team.

Who's hot: Backstrom leads Washington with three goals and six points. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 4. Ovechkin has four points through six games. Niskanen, Carlson and Alzner each have three points.