Capitals at Rangers

CAPITALS (19-13-4) at RANGERS (19-11-5)

Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Anthony Mantha
Marcus Johansson -- Lars Eller -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Aliaksei Protas -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Alexander Alexeyev -- Matt Irwin
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched:Lucas Johansen, Joe Snively
Injured:John Carlson (upper body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (upper body), Tom Wilson (ACL), Connor Brown (ACL), Carl Hagelin (hip), Beck Malenstyn (upper body), Martin Fehervary (upper body)
Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin -- Mika Zibanejad -- Vitali Kravtsov
Chris Kreider -- Vincent Trocheck -- Jimmy Vesey
Alexis Lafreniere
-- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo Kakko
Jonny Brodzinski -- Barclay Goodrow -- Julien Gauthier
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur -- Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched:Sammy Blais, Libor Hajek
Injured:None
Status report
Carlson was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and coach Peter Laviolette said the defenseman will be out "long term." Carlson was hit in the face by a puck during the Capitals' 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. He spent Friday night in the hospital and was discharged Saturday. … Alexeyev will replace Carlson in the lineup, his first game since Dec. 9. … Johansen, a defenseman, was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Tuesday to take Carlson's spot on the roster. … Kravtsov replaced Goodrow on the Rangers' top line during a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday. He is expected to stay there, having skated with Zibanejad and Panarin during the morning skate Tuesday.