New York Islanders at Washington Capitals [Game 49 Thread]

The New York Islanders visit the Washington Capitals this evening looking to salvage this three-game series and the season series with the Capitals. They will not see them for the rest of the regular season.

Ilya Sorokin, despite an off night on Saturday, will man the crease once again. Interestingly, though, Semyon Varlamov will not dress to back him up. Cory Schneider will sit on the end of the bench.

Hopefully, it’s just a matter of getting Varlamov some rest and/or letting Schneider see the ice even a little bit, just in case he is needed in the postseason. But I cannot imagine that Schneider would come in tonight even if Sorokin bombed.

As for lines and the lineup, unfortunately, Barry Trotz may have removed Noah Dobson from the lineup, putting in his place Braydon Coburn—well, actually, Andy Greene would be in Dobson’s place, and Coburn would be in Greene’s place. Ye gods. Apparently, though, there is some confusion about that. And since it’s a national broadcast and a road game, we probably won’t find out until puck drop. But it definitely seems that Oliver Wahlstrom has drawn back into the lineup in exchange for Michael Dal Colle. And Trotz delivered on his promise to shake up the lines.

As the preceding tweet hints, the Caps are hosting fans for the first time this season. But they will not get to see their superstar, Alex Ovechkin, for the second straight game.

Of course, that did not prove to be a problem on Saturday. But the Capitals do have Vitek Vanecek in net instead of Ilya Samsonov.