ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals will see some lineup changes on Halloween, as Alex Alexeyev makes his season debut against the Montreal Canadiens.
Alexeyev’s first game comes as Washington deals with more injuries on the blue line. The Russian missed Wednesday’s optional practice as he and his wife welcomed their first child, a son.
“We got a lot of new little Caps,” head coach Spencer Carbery joked.
Jakob Chychrun will be sidelined due to an upper-body ailment he suffered in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the New York Rangers. He joins Matt Roy on the injured list; Roy will miss his eighth straight game due to a lower-body injury that happened during the season opener.
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Both Chychrun and Roy skated in non-contact jerseys at Thursday’s morning skate, though Chychrun left the ice early while Roy stayed on for the entirety of the practice. As for whether or not they will be available for the weekend, Carbery didn’t have much information.
“We’ll see,” he said.
The forward lines will remain the same, as Hendrix Lapierre and Sonny Milano are both the healthy scratches up front.
Charlie Lindgren will start in goal against Montreal as head coach Spencer Carbery continues to alternate between both netminders. That is the plan going forward, as Carbery explained that playing Lindgren and Logan Thompson keeps both fresh.
In other goalie news, Thompson used Thursday’s morning skate to break in new pads. He is wearing the same design he started the year with, except without white stars.
Here are the expected combinations against the Canadiens. With Chychrun out, Martin Fehervary will slot in on the top pairing with John Carlson.
Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana-Mike Sgarbossa-Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Dylan McIlrath
Alex Alexeyev-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena.