The Washington Capitals last travelled to the Sunshine State to play hockey on December 14, 2019, when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. This is, however, already the second time the Caps and Bolts face off this season; the October 16th matchup went Tampa’s way with a 2-1 Lightning victory in overtime.
A few lineup notes for tonight: Nic Dowd landed on IR today, so the Caps recalled forward Aliaksei Protas from Hershey to make his NHL debut. According to Caps PR, Protas, a third-round pick, is just the sixth player selected in the third round or later in the 2019 draft to play in an NHL game.