Matt Roy and Hendrix Lapierre miss morning skate, Capitals unsure they’ll have enough healthy forwards for Maple Leafs game
The Washington Capitals are heading into a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night without knowing what their lineup will look like.
Head coach Spencer Carbery revealed after the team’s morning skate that the team has several question marks on its roster for various reasons heading into the matchup. The team is already without forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois and Ryan Leonard, who remain on injured reserve.
“Yeah, we’ve got a bunch of things (we’re) working through injury-wise, personal,” Carbery said. “It’ll be a true game-time decision for a lot of things going on.”
The two most notable absences at the skate on Thursday morning were defenseman Matt Roy and center Hendrix Lapierre. Roy has played in all 33 of the Capitals’ games so far this season, while Lapierre has missed just one as a healthy scratch.
In those 33 games, Roy has averaged 20:40 of ice time and formed a great connection with Jakob Chychrun on the team’s second defense pairing. Lapierre has lined up as a bottom-six center and is averaging 9:25 of ice time per game.
Lapierre’s absence led to Connor McMichael skating as a center again during the short practice. However, Carbery did not commit to any lineup specifics when asked if that was an indication of how the Capitals will look against Toronto. Multiple players appear to be dealing with an illness ahead of puck drop.
“Honestly, it is dependent on a couple guys, who can go, because some guys are feeling a little bit under the weather,” Carbery said. “We will have enough bodies. Not sure we’ll have 12 forwards, but we’ll have enough bodies.”
The Capitals have Bogdan Trineyev up from the Hershey Bears as their lone extra forward, and Declan Chisholm and Dylan McIlrath have been the club’s regular extra defensemen this season. No players, other than the injured Leonard, stuck around for additional work after the skate, which means all three extras could dress against the Maple Leafs.
Logan Thompson will start for the Capitals after Charlie Lindgren allowed five goals to the Minnesota Wild earlier this week. Thompson made 20 saves on 22 shots faced in a 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs in late November. He is 13-7-3 this season with a 2.09 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage, and one shutout.
The Maple Leafs still sit outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture with their 15-12-5 record, but they’ve been better of late, going 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. They defeated the Conor Bedard-less Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Tuesday night.
