Capitals at Blues

CAPITALS (20-6-8) at BLUES (19-10-5)

Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Garnet Hathaway
Conor Sheary -- Lars Eller -- Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Brett Leason
Daniel Sprong -- Michael Sgarbossa -- Aliaksei Protas
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Justin Schultz
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Dennis Cholowski, Connor McMichael, Matt Irwin
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom (non-COVID illness), T.J. Oshie (non-COVID illness)
Blues projected lineup
Ivan Barbashev -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Pavel Buchnevich
Brayden Schenn -- Robert Thomas -- Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad -- Oskar Sundqvist -- David Perron
Logan Brown -- Tyler Bozak -- Klim Kostin
Niko Mikkola -- Colton Parayko
Torey Krug -- Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella -- Robert Bortuzzo
Ville Husso
Jordan Binnington
Scratched: None
Injured: None
COVID-19 protocol: Vladimir Tarasenko, Scott Perunovich, Jake Walman
Status report
Oshie, a forward, and Backstrom, a center, each was placed on injured reserve Friday retroactive to Dec. 31; each will be out at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday as well. ... Orlov will play after dealing with an upper-body injury that did not cause him to miss any games. ... Vanecek has a non-COVID related illness and did not skate Friday but could back up Samsonov. Zach Fucale, a goalie put on the taxi squad Thursday, skated Friday and could be the backup in case Vanecek isn't available. ... Fehervary will play after missing three games in COVID-19 protocol. ... Tarasenko, a forward, and Perunovich and Walman, each a defenseman, entered COVID-19 protocol Thursday. ... Bortuzzo returns after missing three games in COVID-19 protocol.