Capitals at Blackhawks

CAPITALS (17-5-6) AT BLACKHAWKS (10-15-2)

Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Aliaksei Protas
Conor Sheary -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Beck Malenstyn
Connor McMichael -- Michael Sgarbossa -- Daniel Sprong
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Justin Schultz
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched:Dennis Cholowski, Matt Irwin, Brett Leason
Injured:Anthony Mantha (shoulder), Tom Wilson (upper body)
COVID-19 protocol: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Garnet Hathaway
Blackhawks projected lineup
Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Patrick Kane
Brandon Hagel -- Jonathan Toews -- Brett Connolly
Dominik Kubalik -- Kirby Dach -- Philipp Kurashev
MacKenzie Entwistle -- Josiah Slavin -- Ryan Carpenter
Calvin de Haan -- Seth Jones
Caleb Jones -- Connor Murphy
Riley Stillman -- Jake McCabe
Marc-Andre Fleury
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched:Kurtis Gabriel, Erik Gustafsson
Injured:Tyler Johnson (neck), Jujhar Khaira (concussion), Henrik Borgstrom (illness)

Status report
Backstrom was activated from the injured non-roster list and is expected to make his season debut. He took part in the morning skate and has yet to play while recovering from a left hip injury that has bothered him since last season. ... Kuznetsov, a center, entered NHL COVID-19 protocol and is unavailable. Dowd and van Riemsdyk were removed. ... Mantha, a forward, was placed on long term injured reserve. ... Wilson, a forward, skated in a non-contact jersey. ... The Blackhawks held an optional morning skate. ... Borgstrom, forward, was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 10.