Pregame Notes: Washington Capitals vs. LA Kings

 The Caps are back home after a tough 4-3 loss in Dallas on Saturday night. The Caps will be getting a huge addition tonight as they face the Pacific Division leading LA Kings. Here is the lineup based on the morning skate.

Forwards:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Johansson-Wilson
Laich-Richards-Latta


Defense and Goalies:

Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orpik-Orlov

Grubauer
Holtby



Other Notes:

*Brooks Orpik is finally making his return to the lineup. Orpik had a lower body injury that kept him out of the lineup since Nov. 10th and had a set back in December. He will be on the third defense pairing with Dmitry Orlov, and Taylor Chorney will be a healthy scratch.

*Philip Grubauer will start in net tonight for the Caps. Braden Holtby had a rough game on Saturday which he didn't receive any help from the defense. This should be a good chance for Holts to rest.

*Michael Latta will be back in the lineup tonight on the 4th line.

*One key tonight is the Caps can't let the Kings cycle the puck all night. The Kings are one of the best puck possession teams in the NHL. The Caps have to play in the Kings zone to keep them from having the puck.

*The Kings are very physical but they do have some skill as well. One player the Caps will have to contain is Anze Kopitar, who is one of the best centers in the NHL.

*Tonight will be a good test because the Caps and Kings are both coming off losses. This could be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals if this fall into place for both teams.

*Something I want to see tonight is the Caps need to help out Philip Grubauer by playing with a lead. If they can do that I feel like they can play with the Kings. Should be a good one tonight at Verizon.


Game time 7:00 p.m on CSN