"The Caps have a surplus of young defensemen, and could move one of Ryan Chesley, Leon Muggli or Vincent Iorio to bring in forward depth for a playoff run," Doerrie wrote. "Shorting up their bottom-6 might cost one of those defensemen if they are unwilling to part with their first-round pick or either of their second-rounders in the 2025 draft."

It started with a trade between the Bruins and Capitals (and Wild as a third-party broker). The Capitals moved out two pending free agents, Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov, in exchange for a 2023 first-rounder, 2024 third, 2025 second and Craig Smith.

(AP Photo/John McDonnell) Washington Capitals center Lars Eller (20) bats the puck away from New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell ...

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The Ottawa Senators return home with a tall order as they take on the best team in the East and League — the Washington Capitals. Washington leads the league with a 0.716 save percentage at 63 points in 44 games.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are fighting for a wild-card playoff berth, but if they do miss the playoffs, their road mark and shootout record will be key reasons why.

In goal, Logan Thompson and Hunter Shepard worked in both nets, with Charlie Lindgren not skating as he recovers from an upper-body injury he suffered in Friday's loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Lindgren remains on the IR, but Carbery said he’s progressing well and they will see if he can be activated Saturday.

On Saturday night in Nashville, the Caps finish up a weekend set of back-to-back games and their 2024-25 season’s series with the Nashville Predators. Back on Nov. 6 in Washington, the Caps prevailed by a 3-2 count in the first meeting between the two clubs this season.

The Nashville Predators will open a five-game homestand when they play the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

Going into the second, Montreal brought a sense of energy and vigor that Washington must’ve left in their locker room. While the second period has been a weaker period for D.C. this season, this was the second consecutive period that the team was absolutely dominated and saw the ice tilted the other way.

Nick Suzuki scored at 1:15 of overtime to give the surging Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Friday night. Suzuki got to the front and put the puck up and over goalie Logan Thompson.