Pregame Notes: Washington Capitals vs. Florida Panthers

 The Caps are back at it tonight after the All-Star break as they host the Florida Panthers in a matchup against the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Here is tonight's lineup based on the morning skate.

Forwards:

Galiev-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovksy-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Richards-Wilson
Larch-Sill-Latta


Defense and Goalies:

Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Chorney

Grubauer
Holtby


Other Notes:

*Alex Ovechkin will be out tonight as he not only is nursing an injury but is suspended for missing the All-Star game. So, Stan Galiev will start the game as the top line left wing tonight. It will be a great opportunity for Stan to play with the top line.

*Marcus Johansson is day to day with a upper body injury. That will give Mike Richards a chance to play up in the lineup a little bit. It is important for Richards to play well so that he can get more ice time as the season continues.

*Braden Holtby will back up Philipp Grubauer tonight as he gets a extra night of rest after what was a hectic weekend for him at his first All-Star Game.

*Great news from the injured list, Brooks Orpik practiced with the team today and for the first time in a long time did not limp afterwards. That is a huge step as he tries to work his way back in the lineup.

*Other news as the two games that were postponed due to the blizzard are now rescheduled. The Caps will now host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday March 1st at 7:30, and will get the Ducks on Sunday April 10th also at 7:30.

*Back to tonight, it will be important for the Caps to play a simple, and hard game tonight. They have only played 1 game in the last two weeks. So, it will be nice this week with 4 games for the boys to get back in the swing of things.

*Overall the All-Star break is done, and it is time for the Caps to finish off the division and work towards a good seed in the 2016 Playoffs. It will be important for the Caps to play with a lead to help out Grubauer tonight as well. We will see but I am thankful that things will finally get back to normal this week.


Gametime 7:30 p.m on NBCSN