Bring It On Home – Finally home from their longest road trip since December of 2022, the Caps now enter a stretch of four games in six nights leading up to the NHL’s Olympic break. Three of the four will be played at Capital One Arena, starting with tonight’s game against Carolina, which will close out the three-game season series between the two teams.
Saturday’s game with the Hurricanes is also the first of three straight games against Metropolitan Division opponents, all of them crucial as the Caps strive to climb their way back into a playoff position with just 27 games remaining on the season’s schedule, and only eight of them between now and the NHL’s March 6 trade deadline.
Washington still has a dozen games remaining against Metro foes, and a quarter of that total will be played in the next four days. The Islanders come to the District on Monday to close out their season series with the Capitals, and on Tuesday in Philadelphia the Caps finally get their first look at the Flyers this season.
The road trip was a difficult one for the Caps who needed a 4-3 shootout win – their first shootout win since last April – in Thursday’s trip finale in Detroit to bring home five of a possible dozen points from the road.
Home cooking hasn’t been as flavorful for the Caps of late, either. In its last six home games, Washington has replicated its 2-3-1 record from its just concluded road trip. And going back a bit further, the Caps have dropped seven of their last 11 games on home ice (4-5-2).
I Appear Missing – As they get set to take on the Canes today, the Caps have made some significant roster alterations. Winger Bogdan Trineyev – who recently inked a two-year contract extension – has been recalled from AHL Hershey, along with goaltender Garin Bjorklund. Defenseman Matt Roy has been placed on IR (retroactive to Jan. 24) as has forward Connor McMichael, who skated over 16 minutes on Thursday in Detroit, but departed the game just past the midpoint of the third period and did not return.
“Mikey is week-to-week with an upper body [injury],” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “So he’ll be out through the break, obviously. That puts him out into the Olympic break. And then Roy will be day-to-day, lower body [injury].”
McMichael had played in 189 consecutive games for the Caps before being injured Thursday night in Detroit, apparently on a hit from Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot, just before the midpoint of the third period. According to the NHL.com gamecenter reports from that contest, the hit occurred at 8:27 of the third period, seconds after Chiarot exited the penalty box after serving two minutes for a minor infraction.
McMichael then took one more shift – his longest of the night, 68 seconds – before retiring for the evening.
The last time the Caps played without McMichael in their lineup was a set of back-to-back games against the Islanders and at Columbus in mid-December of 2023. He missed those two contests because of illness.
With an average of 17:03 in ice time per game, McMichael ranks fifth among Washington forwards. He logs an average of 2:01 per game in shorthanded ice time, third among Washington forwards behind only Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson. McMichael’s average of 1:37 per game in power play ice time is tied with Ethen Frank for sixth among Caps forwards.
“We’re going to need it through penalty kill, power play, and 5-on-5,” says Carbery of replacing McMichael during his absence. “It’ll be different guys in different situations, so leaning on potentially Sonny Milano power play wise, and Frankie to move up a line and put him with that Dowd line.
“There’s a lot of things that Mikey brings inside of our lineup that we’ll just need other guys to pick up the slack.”
Trineyev signed a two-year contract extension with the Capitals a week ago today, a deal that carries a $900,000 salary cap hit at the NHL level. He got into two games with Washington last month – making his NHL debut in a road game in Winnipeg and playing at home against Toronto five nights later – while averaging 10:32 in ice time.
With Hershey this season, Trineyev has nine goals and a dozen assists for 21 points in 32 games. He is tied for third on the team in goals and ranks fourth on the Bears in scoring.
In The Nets – Logan Thompson was held out of Thursday’s game in Detroit because of an upper body injury, so Charlie Lindgren started, and the Caps recalled Clay Stevenson from AHL Hershey on an emergency basis to serve as Lindgren’s backup. Lindgren played well in the Caps’ shootout victory, but he appeared to injure himself while making a save in the final seconds of overtime.
As is his nature, Lindgren hung in gamely and battled his way through the shootout, but Stevenson was up and about and limbering up at the end of that overtime session, ready to come in if needed.
Washington used its second and final 23-man roster limit goaltender exemption to include Stevenson on its roster for Thursday’s game, and given today’s recall of Bjorklund, we are likely looking at a Stevenson/Bjorklund duo for today’s game.
As to the identity of today’s starting goaltender, we have this from Carbery:
“No update. Still working through some things, roster wise.”
Looks like it’s either Stevenson or Bjorklund.
Stevenson has one NHL start under his belt, an April 17, 2025 game in Pittsburgh in which he performed well, making 33 saves in a 5-2 setback at the hands of the Penguins in the regular season finale from 2024-25. With Hershey this season, Stevenson has an 11-8-3 record with a 2.57 GAA and a .912 save pct. in 24 appearances.
Bjorklund was up briefly with Washington earlier this season, but he has yet to make his NHL debut. He is 4-5-2 with a shutout, a 3.43 GAA and an .879 save pct. in 11 appearances with the Bears this season.
For the Hurricanes – who are playing the front end of a set of back-to-back games today; they head back home to host Los Angeles on Sunday – Frederick Andersen gets the start in goal against the Caps.
The 36-year-old Andersen has scuffled to a 7-10-4 mark on the regular season to date, with a 3.23 GAA and an .869 save pct. He is in the final season of his contract, and his 13th season in the NHL.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Andersen is 10-5-3 in 18 appearances – all starts – with two shutouts, a 2.62 GAA and a .911 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and the Hurricanes might look on Saturday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
21-Protas, 34-Sourdif, 43-Wilson
72-Beauvillier, 17-Strome, 9-Leonard
22-Duhaime, 29-Lapierre, 87-Trineyev
Defensemen
6-Chychrun, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 38-Sandin
47-Chisholm, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
33-Stevenson
68-Bjorklund
Healthy Extras
15-Milano
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
3-Roy (lower body)
24-McMichael (upper body)
48-Thompson (upper body)
79-Lindgren (undisclosed)
80-Dubois (abdomen)
CAROLINA
Forwards
37-Svechnikov, 20-Aho, 24-Jarvis
71-Hall, 22-Stankoven, 53-Blake
27-Ehlers, 11-Staal, 48-Martinook
28-Carrier, 77-Jankowski, 82-Kotkaniemi
Defensemen
74-Slavin, 5-Chatfield
19-Miller, 26-Walker
4-Gostisbehere, 21-Nikishin
Goalies
31-Andersen
32-Bussi
Healthy Extras
6-Reilly
64-Nystrom
Injured/Out
50-Robinson (upper body)
52-Kochetkov (undisclosed)
62-Legault (hand)
