Washington Capitals (31-19-7 69pts) v. San Jose Sharks (34-16-7 75pts)
Time: 1030p EST
Station: NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports California
Preview:
The Washington Capitals start the California portion of their six game road trip when they take on the San Jose Sharks. The Capitals will be looking to bounce back from their 3-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Sharks will be without defenseman Erik Karlsson.
Washington Capitals:
Projected Lineup:
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Dmitrij Jaskin — Chandler Stephenson — Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Christian Djoos
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Madison Bowey, Travis Boyd, Nic Dowd
Keys to the Game:
1. Be consistent for a full 60 minutes
The Capitals need to come out with full energy and they need to play a consistent game. The Capitals looked flatter than a pancake in skillet, and they need to bring that high tempo pace.
San Jose Sharks:
Projected Lineup:
Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Joe Pavelski
Evander Kane — Tomas Hertl — Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc
Lukas Radil — Barclay Goodrow — Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek — Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Tim Heed
Brenden Dillon — Justin Braun
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Joakim Ryan, Dylan Gambrell
Injured: Erik Karlsson (groin)
Keys to the Game:
1. Get a good start
This should be the key for every team who plays against the Capitals right now who are struggling, despite having a good start to February. If the Sharks can get the first goal, then they have all of the momentum.
