Dec. 22 vs. Los Angeles Kings at Capital One Arena
Time: 5:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Los Angeles Kings (19-9-5)
Washington Capitals (22-8-2)
The Caps finish up a quick two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they host the Los Angeles Kings at Capital One Arena. Sunday’s game also starts another set of back-to-back games for the Capitals, who will be playing their eighth set of back-to-backs in a span of nine weeks. The Caps visit the Bruins in Boston on Monday night in their final game ahead of the NHL’s three-day holiday hiatus.
Washington started its brief homestand in fine fashion on Friday night, shaking off the shortest possible losing streak of two games with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves – one of which stands out among the rest – to earn his 10th victory of the season. Washington is the only NHL team with two goaltenders with 10 or more wins; Logan Thompson has a dozen.
With the Caps leading 1-0 midway through the second period of Friday’s game, Lindgren executed an acrobatic windmill glove save on Carolina’s Tyson Jost, who later referred to it as a “circus save.”
“I haven’t seen one of those saves in a long time,” says Caps forward Connor McMichael, who supported Lindgren’s cause with his team-leading 16th goal of the season. “It brought back the vintage style there. Chucky has been really good for us as of late, and we’re really happy to have him on our side; I don’t have to try and beat him.”
Prior to Saturday’s practice session at Medstar Capitals Iceplex, the Caps announced the recall of forward Henrik Rybinski from AHL Hershey. The 23-year-old native of Vancouver was originally Florida’s fifth-round choice (136th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, but the Panthers opted not to sign him. Washington signed Rybinski as a free agent late in his age 20 WHL season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, and he began his third pro season in 2024-25.
In 28 games with the Bears this season, Rybinski has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) to rank among the top 50 (tied for 47th) in AHL scoring. In addition to shattering his previous single-season highs in essentially half the games played, Rybinski has been remarkably consistent with Hershey this season, going as many as three games without a point only once.
The addition of Rybinski gives the Caps a right-handed, playmaking forward who can play on the penalty kill and be reliable all over the ice.
“I was just driving back home, and [Bears coach] Todd Nelson called me and said, ‘You’re getting called up,’” recounts Rybinski of the phone call that altered his weekend plans. “I couldn’t really believe it, and I paused. It’s just hard to believe. You always think about it, and you think maybe there’s a chance, and you always dream about it. But for it to happen, it’s really special. I got emotional, and I’m just super excited to be here.”
As they undertake this set of back-to-backs this weekend, the Caps know they won’t have the services of Alex Ovechkin or Lars Eller. Ovechkin is nearing a return from a fractured fibula suffered in Utah on Nov. 18, but he won’t play until after the holiday break. Ditto for Eller, who is battling an illness and was placed on injured reserve retroactive to this past Tuesday.
Washington is carrying two extra defensemen, but it has had a few players fall ill recently. Andrew Mangiapane missed Monday’s game in Dallas because he was under the weather, and Lindgren fought his way through an illness in Friday’s victory over Carolina.
The addition of Rybinski gives the Caps a right-handed, playmaking forward who can play on the penalty kill and be reliable all over the ice. After putting up five goals in each of his first two AHL seasons, Rybinski emerged during the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs scoring five goals and recording nine points in 19 games. He followed up with good training camp and preseason showings, seeing action in three of Washington’s first four preseason games at center.
Rybinski drew praise from Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery after the third of those preseason outings, a Sept. 27 contest against Columbus.
“I think he has been one of the big surprises of someone that wasn’t necessarily on our radar to make the Washington Capitals,” said Carbery. “And when I say that, we’ve followed him, and what he’s done in Hershey, and becoming a bigger part of their Calder Cup-winning team last year.
“Coming into camp, you’ve watched him a little bit in the American League and seen him, and now he really impressed our staff, and I know management feels the same way, and that’s why he’s earned the opportunity that he’s gotten, getting into games. He’s done a tremendous job of excelling in the games that he’s played in, and he’s been good in practices. It feels like he’s been trending [upwards] in our organization.”
Rybinski credits the coaching he’s received from the staff in Hershey with getting him ready for this opportunity.
“They’ve been teaching me how to be pro and to play the pro game,” says Rybinski. “It's not like junior, where you can get away with a lot of bad habits and stuff. You’ve got to show up every day, and just be consistent. And I think the coaches have done a great job of just preparing me to play a certain role, and just working on the little details, showing videos, doing extra drills at the end of practice, that kind of stuff. So that has been crucial for my development.”
For the Kings, Sunday’s game is the finale in a seven-game road trip in which they’ve alternated wins and losses through the first half dozen games of the journey (3-1-2), scraping at least a point out of five.
Most recently, the Kings rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit to force overtime, before falling to the Predators in Nashville on Saturday afternoon. Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere scored four minutes apart in the third period to rally the Kings, but the Preds prevailed on a Nick Blankenburg goal early in overtime.
Los Angeles is part of a spirited chase for playoff positioning in the Western Conference, where the top 10 teams are separated by only 10 points in the chase for eight postseason berths. The Kings are one of the League’s best home teams at 10-2-1 this season, and after Sunday’s game with the Caps, they will be more than halfway through their road slate for the ’24-25 campaign.
The Kings opened this season with a seven-game road trip, and they have a pair of five-game journeys ahead in the back half of ’24-25.
