Capitals at Panthers

CAPITALS (14-3-5) at PANTHERS (14-4-3)

Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Aliaksei Protas
Daniel Sprong -- Lars Eller -- Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Brett Leason -- Michael Sgarbossa -- Beck Malenstyn
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Dennis Cholowski -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Matt Irwin, Connor McMichael
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Anthony Mantha (shoulder), Conor Sheary (upper body), T.J. Oshie (lower body), Justin Schultz (upper body)
Panthers projected lineup
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Sam Bennett -- Owen Tippett
Carter Verhaeghe -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart
Frank Vatrano -- Joe Thornton --
Maxim Mamin
Ryan Lomberg -- Eetu Luostarinen -- Patric Hornqvist
MacKenzie Weegar -- Aaron Ekblad
Matt Kiersted
-- Radko Gudas
Lucas Carlsson -- Brandon Montour
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Kevin Connauton, Aleksi Heponiemi
Injured: Aleksander Barkov (knee), Mason Marchment (upper body), Markus Nutivaara (lower body), Anthony Duclair (lower body), Gustav Forsling (lower body)
Status report
Samsonov will his fourth straight start. ... Kiersted will be in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 16 after being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Forsling, a defenseman, is week to week after being injured in a 4-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.