Washington Capitals (13-7-3 29pts) v. New York Islanders (12-8-2 26pts)
Time: 7p EST
Station: NBC Sports Washington+, MSG+, and Sportsnet
Preview:
The Washington Capitals continue their Mentors Trip with a visit to the New York Islanders as they look to win their sixth game in a row when they take on their former bench boss Barry Trotz. Meanwhile the Islanders will be looking to continue building off of their win Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, where they are also 9-1-0 this season against Metropolitan Division rivals.
Key players to watch will be Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier who has five goals and two assists in his past five games. While for the Capitals, Tom Wilson has been a key catalyst for the team since returning from suspension.
Washington Capitals:
Projected Lineup:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Travis Boyd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitrij Jaskin — Nic Dowd — Chandler Stephenson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Christian Djoos — Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Jonas Siegenthaler
Injured: Evgeny Kuznetsov (upper body), T.J. Oshie (concussion), Brooks Orpik (knee surgery)
Keys to the Game:
1. Start Strong
The Capitals lately have not been starting well, but have been finishing strong. The Capitals need to start games off strong, and play the full 60 minutes. If this were the playoffs, some of these wins they’ve gotten would have been losses if they started slow.
2. The Trotz Effect
This will be the first time the Capitals will be facing their former head coach Barry Trotz, and they will know how he will be having the Islanders play against them, and like wise Trotz will be telling the Islanders on how to attack the Capitals. This will be a chess match between Trotz and his protege Todd Reirdon.
New York Islanders:
Projected Lineup:
Anders Lee — Brock Nelson — Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier — Mathew Barzal — Josh Bailey
Tom Kuhnhackl — Valtteri Filppula — Leo Komarov
Ross Johnston — Tanner Fritz — Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy — Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey — Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech — Scott Mayfield
Thomas Greiss
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Luca Sbisa, Stephen Gionta
Injured: Matt Martin (upper body), Casey Cizikas (lower body), Andrew Ladd (lower body)
Keys to the Game:
1. Start Fast
On Saturday the Islanders got two quick goals to get the jump on the Hurricanes, and played a complete game to win the game. The same will need to be done against the Capitals who will be looking for their sixth consecutive victory.
You can watch TXHT Live this Wednesday at 8p EST on Facebook Live.
