Pos | Role | Name |
C | 1 | Nicklas Backstrom  ActiveNicklas Backstrom assisted on two goals Sunday. It was the second straight two assist night for Backstrom in the playoffs, giving him four points in two contests. Backstrom had a so-so regular season for himself with 71 points in 81 games as he had a huge slump for a lot of the season. The Capitals need him to keep up the scoring if they want the series to return to Washington for Game 5 as they trail the best-of-seven series 2-0. Apr 16 |
| 2 | Evgeny Kuznetsov  ActiveEvgeny Kuznetsov picked up a goal and two assists in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kuznetsov registered the primary assists on goals by Tom Wilson (1-0) and Alex Ovechkin (3-0) before he added an empty-netter late in the game. The 25-year-old finished the game with a plus-3 rating, two penalty minutes and four shots on goal in 20:44 of ice time. Kuznetsov now has three goals and two assists in four games this postseason. After dropping the first two games of the series on home ice, the Capitals managed to win back-to-back games in Columbus. Game 5 will be played in Washington on Saturday afternoon. Apr 19 |
| 3 | Lars Eller  ActiveLars Eller scored the game-winning goal in Tuesday's 3-2 double-overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Eller was the beneficiary of an extremely fortunate bounce, as Zach Werenski's clearing attempt went off Eller, bounced back off himself and bounced off Eller again before going into the back of the net. It took the Caps forward a few seconds to realize that the puck went in. He finished the night with a plus-1 rating, four shots on goal and two hits in 22:37 of ice time. The 28-year-old now has one point in three games during the postseason. Tom Wilson and John Carlson also found the back of the net for the Capitals. Washington has cut their series-deficit to 2-1. Game 4 will be played in Columbus on Thursday night. Apr 17 |
| 4 | Jay Beagle  ActiveJay Beagle (upper body) is expected to return to the lineup in Game 3 on Sunday night. Beagle missed the last three games of the regular season and Washington's playoff opener on Thursday because of an upper-body injury. He is slated to play between Chandler Stephenson and Alex Chiasson. Apr 15 |
| 5 | Chandler Stephenson  ActiveChandler Stephenson will be a healthy scratch in Friday's game against the New York Islanders. Stephenson has five goals and 16 points in 56 games with the Caps this season. He's now been scratched for the second time in his last five games. Brett Connolly and Jakub Jerabek will also watch the game from the press box. None of these three players will carry any fantasy value going forward. Mar 16 |
LW | 1 | Alex Ovechkin  ActiveAlex Ovechkin scored a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ovechkin registered the primary assist on T.J. Oshie's power-play tally in the second period. He also added a goal of his own early in the third frame to increase his team's lead to 3-0 at the time. Ovechkin finished the night with a plus-1 rating and five shots on goal in 19:07 of ice time. The 32-year-old now has three goals and three assists in four games this postseason. This best-of-seven series is now all tied up at two. Game 5 will be played in Washington on Saturday afternoon. Apr 19 |
| 2 | Brett Connolly  ActiveBrett Connolly found the back of the net in Thursday's 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Jakub Vrana pounced on a Red Wings turnover on the blue line before taking off on a 2-on-0 breakaway with Connolly. Vrana eventually passed the puck over to Connolly, who buried it past Jimmy Howard. Connolly now has 15 goals and 25 points in 63 games this season. This was his first goal in 16 games. His last tally also came against Detroit. Mar 22 |
| 3 | Jakub Vrana  ActiveJakub Vrana will return to the lineup on Tuesday night. Vrana was a healthy scratch in Game 2 after he earned an assist in the first game of the series. An injury to Andre Burakovsky will get him back into the fold. He is projected to skate on the second line of the Capitals. Apr 17 |
RW | 1 | T.J. Oshie  ActiveT.J. Oshie netted the game-winning goal in the Capitals' 4-1 win over Columbus in Game 4 on Thursday. Oshie has two goals and three points in four playoff games. That was also his fourth career game-winning goal in a postseason contest. All of those GWGs have come with Washington over the last three years. Apr 20 |
| 2 | Andre Burakovsky  SidelinedAndre Burakovsky (upper body) has been ruled out for Game 4. We're just passing along the official announcement as a matter of course. He didn't travel with the Capitals to Columbus ahead of Game 3, so he obviously wasn't expected to participate in Game 4 either. Apr 18 |
| 3 | Tom Wilson  ActiveTom Wilson scored a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wilson opened the scoring 6:16 into the first period when he buried a one-timer by Sergei Bobrovsky. The Caps forward then registered an assist on Alex Ovechkin's third-period tally. Wilson finished the night with a plus-3 rating, two penalty minutes and a game-high seven shots on goal in 19:44 of ice time. The 24-year-old now has two goals and one assist in four games this postseason. This best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 coming up on Saturday afternoon in Washington. Apr 19 |
| 4 | Alex Chiasson  ActiveAlex Chiasson (illness) returned to action on Saturday April 7. Chiasson left Thursday's game due to the illness, but he was healthy enough to play Saturday. He had two penalty minutes and logged 10:40 minutes of ice time in a 5-3 win over New Jersey. Apr 8 |
| 5 | Anthony Peluso  ActiveAnthony Peluso has been summoned by the Washington Capitals. Peluso has no points in three AHL games this season. The 28-year-old has appeared in 142 career NHL games, but none since the 2015-16 campaign. He has 14 points and 209 penalty minutes in his 142-contest NHL career. Oct 27 |
| 6 | Devante Smith-Pelly  ActiveThe Washington Capitals will sit Devante Smith-Pelly today against the San Jose Sharks. Joining Smith-Pelly as a scratch will be Christian Djoos, Alex Chiasson and Madison Bowey. Mar 10 |
| 7 | Travis Boyd  SidelinedTravis Boyd (illness) is skating with his teammates Saturday morning. Boyd has not played since April 5th but appears nearing a return to action. If he has recovered from his illness, it will be interesting to see if Caps' coach Barry Trotz inserts him into the lineup Sunday night. Apr 14 |
D | 1 | John Carlson  ActiveJohn Carlson had an assist in the Capitals' 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets in Game 4 Thursday night. Carlson has recorded at least a point in every game of the first round series and is now up to eight points in four contests. He leads the playoff scoring race among defensemen. Apr 20 |
| 2 | Matt Niskanen  ActiveMatt Niskanen notched a goal and an assist in Sunday afternoon's 4-3 loss to Vegas. Nikanen assisted on a goal by Chandler Stephenson to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead and he gave the team a 2-1 with his fourth marker of the year in the second period. However, the Golden Knights kept battling back and eventually got the game winner late in the third. Nicklas Backstrom had the other goal for Washington in the loss. Feb 4 |
| 3 | Dmitry Orlov  ActiveDmitry Orlov scored a goal and registered two assists in a 7-3 win against the Islanders on Thursday. Orlov is up to nine goals and 28 points in 70 contests this season. That puts him five points away from his 2016-17 total, which also happened to be his career-high. Mar 15 |
| 4 | Brooks Orpik  ActiveBrooks Orpik (lower body) will play Tuesday night. Orpik was on the ice for the pregame warmups after he missed one game due to a lower-body injury. He will skate alongside Christian Djoos on the third defense duo. Mar 20 |
| 5 | Christian Djoos  ActiveChristian Djoos will be a healthy scratch in Game 1 of Washington's first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Djoos was scratched in three of Washington's last four games. He had three goals and 11 assists in 63 games this season. Madison Bowey and Shane Gersich will also be scratched in this one. Apr 12 |
| 6 | Michal Kempny  ActiveMichal Kempny was on the ice for the Capitals' practise Saturday morning. Kempny was hit from behind by the Blue Jackets' Josh Anderson Thursday night and has swelling over his right eye and his nose. The good news is that he did not sustain a concussion and will be able to suit up in Game 2 Sunday. Apr 14 |
| 7 | Madison Bowey  ActiveMadison Bowey has been brought up by the Washington Capitals. Bowey has spent the majority of the 2017-18 season with the Capitals, but he was demoted to the minors on Mar. 13. He posted two goals and eight points in nine outings with Hershey. Bowey has 12 helpers in 51 NHL games this year. Apr 3 |
| 8 | Jakub Jerabek  ActiveJakub Jerabek will be a healthy scratch in Game 4 against Columbus on Thursday night. After playing in the first two games of the series, Jerabek has now been scratched in back-to-back contests. The 26-year-old has one assist and a minus-1 rating this postseason. Travis Boyd, Madison Bowey, Shane Gersich and Pheonix Copley will also watch the game from the press box. The Caps find themselves down 2-1 in this best-of-seven series. Apr 19 |
G | 1 | Braden Holtby  ActiveBraden Holtby turned aside 23 of 24 shots in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Holtby blanked the Blue Jackets for more than two periods, but he eventually surrendered a goal to Boone Jenner early in the third frame. After dropping back-to-back home games to open the series, the Capitals have managed to tie the series at two with two straight road wins in Columbus. Holtby now has a 2-1 record with a 1.32 goals-against-average and a .940 save percentage this postseason. Game 5 will be played in Washington on Saturday afternoon. Apr 19 |
| 2 | Philipp Grubauer  ActivePhilipp Grubauer allowed four goals on 22 shots in two periods of work on Sunday. Grubauer was replaced by Braden Holtby to start the third period. The 26-year-old has an .837 save percentage and 4.57 goals against average through two games in the post-season. He received a no-decision, since Washington was able to tie the game in the third period before falling in overtime to Columbus. Apr 15 |
| 3 | Pheonix Copley  ActiveThe Washington Capitals have summoned Pheonix Copley from the AHL. Although it can be concerning when a team calls up a goaltender, this isn't necessarily a red flag. We're in the playoffs now and we've seen other teams add a third goalie to their roster just as an insurance policy, so that's likely what Washington is doing here. Copley had a 2.91 GAA and .896 save percentage in 41 AHL games this season. Apr 12 |