The Washington Capitals will play their final regular-season game Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins and they’ll be without four regular players, at the least.
TJ Oshie and John Carlson will both miss the game due to lower-body injuries, while Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov remain in COVID protocol.
Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision for the Capitals tonight, per coach Peter Laviolette.
Nicklas Backstrom will play.
John Carlson (lower body) and T.J. Oshie (lower body) won’t play.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 11, 2021
Vitek Vanecek will start in net after missing the morning skate.
Vanecek will start tonight vs. BOS, per Laviolette. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) May 11, 2021
The Capitals also recalled Philippe Maillet to the main roster and sent Garrett Pilon, who made his NHL debut on Saturday, back to the taxi squad. Maillet centered Daniel Sprong and Tom Wilson on the team’s third line in practice Monday.
Maillet made his NHL debut against the Flyers on Feb. 7.
Tonight would be his second NHL game.
At practice yesterday, he centered Sprong and Wilson on the third line.
He has 21 points (6G, 15A) in 16 games with Hershey (AHL) this season. https://t.co/lqpvj04udb
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 11, 2021
With the Capitals and Bruins already locked in to play each other in the first round of the playoffs, the two teams have little to play for tonight. Regardless, Peter Laviolette said he would not rest any players. The two teams’ first playoff game is in four days: Saturday
“If a player is cleared to play and 100 percent healthy, I’m not going to hold them out of a game,” Laviolette said on Monday. “Alex won’t be held out of a game. He’s trying to get back on the ice. I think that when it comes to the players, generally speaking, if they are healthy they can play. If they’re not 100 percent healthy and it’s not in the best interest of the player to play in that game, then we won’t play them.”
Laviolette also added that “You’re going to want to play well. You’re going to want to end the season on a good note.”
