Alexander Ovechkin leads the league in goals with 41 and is tied with four other players for the lead in points. (Caps Outsider)
The Washington Capitals are looking to start up another win streak against their Division rivals the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Capitals and Blue Jackets have already met four times this season, each team winning a game at home in regulation and away in OT. The Blue Jackets are on a six game losing streak while the Caps were able to break their 3 game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the tanking Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Caps made some changes to their roster before the trade deadline on Monday. Jack Hillen and a 4th round pick were sent to Carolina in exchange for veteran defenseman Tim Gleason. Gleason will skate alongside Mike Green on the 3rd defensive pairing and strengthen the physical presence on the blueline. The Caps were also able to acquire veteran LW Curtis Glencross from Calgary in exchange for a 2015 2nd and 3rd line pick. Glencross is expected to make appearance on the 2nd line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Troy Brouwer. Andre Burakovsky was sent down to Hershey to get top line minutes and so that Trotz could analyze the forward lines with the addition of Glencross. Here are the expected the line combinations and defensive pairings for the game tonight against the Blue Jackets:
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Marcus Johansson
Curtis Glencross – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Eric Fehr – Joel Ward
Michael Latta – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Brooks Orpik – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Tim Gleason – Mike Green
Braden Holtby in goal
Who’s hot: Alexander Ovechkin leads the league in goals with 41 and is tied with four other players for the lead in points. Ovechkin had a 3 point game against the Toronto Maple leafs and remains one of the leagues hottest players. Nicklas Backstrom leads the league in assists with 47 and is also tied for the league lead in points. Braden Holtby has been stellar in net with 30 wins on the season and a .925 save percentage which are both good enough for top 5 in the league.
The Washington Capitals will look to stay consistent and gain some momentum as they attempt to gain better seeding in the Metropolitan division.
