"He's been out there a couple days," Trotz said. "He's feeling good. I haven't talked to our trainers yet, they just got off the ice. But it looks like a good chance."
Orpik sustained an upper-body injury during Game 3 of the first round by a hit from Philadelphia Flyers forward Ryan White. Orpik has been participating in full practices but said he has not been medically cleared to play.
"Hopefully they give me a decision today," Orpik said after the Capitals' optional morning skate at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. "It's out of my hands."
If Orpik can't play, either Taylor Chorney or Mike Weber will play in Game 1. Trotz said he's comfortable with plugging either one into the lineup.
"It gives us lots of flexibility," Trotz said. "They bring different things. You get some size and some really good defensive play with Mike Weber. He's hard to play against. [Chorney] has got a little bit of both, where he's hard to play against, he's got some mobility. Our depth there has been exceptional all year."
Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner, who missed two practices because of maintenance days, said he will play in Game 1.
Alzner averaged 22:43 of ice time in the first round.
"Just took a couple days," Alzner said. "Lot of bumps and bruises; tough series. I feel fine. I feel happy now. It's like the All-Star break. You get a few days off and come back and feel refreshed. It's all good."
Penguins forward Conor Sheary, who also took two maintenance days this week, said he will play Thursday.
"My first series I think I was playing a lot of minutes and just some little things that were nagging me," Sheary said after the Penguins' optional morning skate at Verizon Center. "I feel good about it this morning."
Matt Murray will start in goal for the Penguins. Braden Holtby will start for the Capitals.
Here are the projected lineups:
PENGUINS
Conor Sheary - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Eric Fehr
Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl - Matt Cullen - Bryan Rust
Olli Maatta - Kris Letang
Trevor Daley - Ian Cole
Brian Dumoulin - Ben Lovejoy
Matt Murray
Jeff Zatkoff
Injured: Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Kevin Porter (ankle), Scott Wilson (lower body)
Scratched: Justin Schultz, Oskar Sundqvist, Beau Bennett, Derrick Pouliot
CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Justin Williams
Jason Chimera - Mike Richards - Marcus Johansson
Daniel Winnik - Jay Beagle - Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner - Matt Niskanen
Nate Schmidt - John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov - Taylor Chorney
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Injured: Brooks Orpik (upper body)
Scratched: Mike Weber, Stanislav Galiev, Michael Latta
Status update:Fleury was on ice for the Penguins' optional morning skate Thursday but there is no timetable for his return.
Who's hot:Crosby had five points in the final three games of the first round against the New York Rangers. … Backstrom had seven points in six games in the first round.
