BALLSTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals showed several different looks Tuesday during their morning skate in preparation for their game with the Nashville Predators. Said looks included Alex Ovechkin skating with Jeff Halpern and Troy Brouwer and Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson and Alexander Semin. Later, Brouwer and Brooks Laich moved up to the first line with Ovechkin, while Halpern moved to the third line in between Jason Chimera and Joel Ward.
After practice, head coach Dale Hunter said that the shakeup has more to do with getting the right matchups against a stingy Predators defense.
"Just shaking them up and see what falls out of it, trying to get the right matchups more is what I worry about than just shake them up for no reason," he said.
What is known, however, is Michal Neuvirth will earn his third consecutive start. He has allowed only two goals in his previous two starts and has been in goal since the third period of last Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Jay Beagle, still working his way back from a concussion suffered over two months. will be the forward scratch Tuesday. The defensive scratch is unknown; Dmitry Orlov was the last defenseman on the ice, but did not take part in extra work.