ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals blue line will look a bit different for their home opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
Matt Roy, who suffered a lower-body injury in Saturday's loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, will not play against Pittsburgh. He has not skated since then, but remains day-to-day, per coach Spencer Carbery.
With Roy out, Dylan McIlrath will suit up for what will be his first NHL home opener, a milestone moment for him on his winding road.
"We love Mac, period, but love him when he's in the lineup. We know what he brings. The guys love him. He's an incredible teammate. He works his ass off every single day, and that's why he continues at his age to defy a lot of naysayers and odds, and he continues to be on an NHL roster and play NHL games," Carbery said. "It's credit to him and how much work he puts in, and we love having him on our team and as a part of our organization. And when he gets in the lineup, we know exactly what he brings... He's a valuable player to our team, and when he's in the lineup, we seem to have success."
McIlrath will start on a third pairing with Cole Hutson while Timothy Liljegren and Vincent Desharnais will take on more minutes on the right side with Roy out. The defensive pairings could also fluctuate depending on in-game situations.
For Desharnais, experiencing the Capitals-Penguins rivalry for the first time as a player will be a meaningful moment as he looks to help fill Roy's void along with the rest of the blue line.
"It's going to affect quite a bit. He plays such a big role for us... he's just a steady-eddy presence and he just brings consistency every shift, every period, every game," Desharnais explained. "It's next man up, and everyone has to step up a little bit. Everyone has to take a little bit more, and I think everyone is ready for that... it's going to be a good test for us without Matty, but we have the personnel in here to cover for him."
The forward lines will mostly remain the same as they've been, with Ryan Leonard and Anthony Beauvillier switching lines as Carbery experiments with the team's depth and chemistry.
Logan Thompson will get the start, with Charlie Lindgren backing up.
Here are the line combinations:
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Anthony Beauvillier
Alex Tuch-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas-Ilya Protas-Jordan Kyrou
Boone Jenner-Justin Sourdif-Ryan Leonard
Jakob Chychrun-Timothy Liljegren
Martin Fehervary-Vinny Desharnais
Cole Hutson-Dylan McIlrath
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Power Play 1: Ovechkin, Chychrun, Wilson, Dubois, Strome
Power Play 2: Leonard, Hutson, I. Protas, Tuch, Kyrou
