Cody Eakin’s back in the bigs and apparently back in the Washington Capitals’ lineup Friday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Just recalled from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League on Thursday, Eakin took line rushes at the morning skate on the fourth line with Jason Chimera and Jay Beagle. It looks like he’ll replace Mathieu Perreault.
The lines got a little jumble, although on defense Tomas Kundratek is expected to stay in and play his second career NHL game. John Erskine and Jeff Schultz out again.
Again, no Nicklas Backstrom, and there’s no timetable for his return from a head injury.
Here’s a look:
Alex Ovechkin - Marcus Johansson - Alexander Semin
Mike Knuble - Brooks Laich - Troy Brouwer
Matt Hendricks - Jeff Halpern - Joel Ward
Jason Chimera - Cody Eakin - Jay Beagle
Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov - Dennis Wideman
Roman Hamrlik - Tomas Kundratek
Tomas Vokoun is set to make his eighth straight start.
