The Washington Capitals held their morning skate Tuesday at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington in preparation for their home opener against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center.
Goaltender Braden Holtby left the ice first, meaning that he will start for Washington. In his first start Saturday, Holtby allowed six goals on 34 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Meanwhile, forward Eric Fehr and defensemen Jeff Schultz and John Erskine took in extra work and will not play Tuesday. Forward Joey Crabb, who sat out of Saturday's game, and defenseman Tomas Kundratek, who the team recalled from AHL Hershey Monday, will make their respective season debuts.
"Yeah, it will be nice," said Crabb, who will be playing in his first-ever NHL home opener. "I’m excited about that. We’d like to get this train rolling finally and get a win under our belt so hopefully I can be part of that."
Meanwhile, Ondrej Pavelec will start in goal for the Jets, his third start since Saturday. Pavelec has a career-high eight wins against Washington with a 2.69 GAA, .916 save percentage and one fainting spell.
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