CAPITALS (26-21-8) at PANTHERS (37-16-4)
6 p.m. ET; MNMT, BSFL
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Pierrick Dube
Max Pacioretty -- Connor McMichael -- Anthony Mantha
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Aliaksei Protas -- Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn -- Mike Sgarbossa --Tom Wilson
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Nick Jensen
Joel Edmundson -- Alexander Alexeyev
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Alexander Alexeyev, Hendrix Lapierre, Ethan Bear
Injured: T.J. Oshie (lower body), Martin Fehervary (lower body), Nic Dowd (upper body)
Panthers projected lineup
Evan Rodrigues -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Nick Cousins
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Ryan Lomberg
Jonah Gadjovich -- Steven Lorentz -- William Lockwood
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Dmitry Kulikov
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Josh Mahura
Injured: Matthew Tkachuk (upper body), Kevin Stenlund (illness)
Status report
The Capitals did not have a morning skate, but coach Spencer Carbery said Oshie, a forward who sustained a noncontact injury midway through the third period of a 5-3 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, is out Saturday. "We'll continue to monitor him," Carbery said on Friday. … With Oshie out, Dube is expected to make his NHL debut. He was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Tkachuk, a forward, will not play for precautionary reasons. He left in the first period of a 1-0 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday with an upper-body injury. … Forlsing will play after not returnign after the first period against the Hurricanes because of an injury. ... Stenlund, a center, missed the morning skate with an illness and is not expected to play. … Stolarz will make his first start since shutting out the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 on Feb.
