(Caps Outsider)
Tonight the Capitals battle the Panthers at Verizon Center to start the post All Star Game season. The Florida panthers are currently the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with 63 points. They have also won three straight.
The Caps will be without Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson (not to mention Jay Beagle and Brooks Orpik) thus creating some new lines.
Tonight, the stage is set for a few specific players to shine. Philipp Grubauer, who showed what he can do last postseason, looks to show even more tonight to maybe earn a few more games down the stretch. The other is Stanislav Galiev, who is often a healthy scratch but needs to show the coaching staff what he can do and earn a few more games. It looks like he will be playing on the Caps’ top line with Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.
These are the line combos that took morning skate this morning,
49-19-77; 65-92-14; 25-10-43; 21-23-46. On the back end, we should see the top pair of Schmidt and Carlson. Niskanen and Alzner along with Orlov and Chorney are the other blue liners expected to dress tonight.
Both teams come into Verizon red hot. Florida in their last 10 games are 6-3-1 and the Caps are 7-1-2. The game is at 7;30 on NBCSN and the only local call is from John Walton on the Capitals Radio Network.
