New Dad Kuemper May Miss Opening Night; Capitals Lineup Could Change

“They were at the hospital last night, so we’ll see how today goes,” head coach Spencer Carbery said at Friday’s morning skate. “If we have to make some adjustments lineup-wise, we will this afternoon.”

Kuemper is entering his second year in Washington, looking to rebound after allowing 154 goals last season — the most in a season during his career. If Kuemper is unable to go, Charlie Lindgren would receive the start.

“We just want to be mindful of the fact that we want to put him in a position to have success, so we’ll figure that out this afternoon and may have to make some according lineup decisions based off of that decision.”

At Thursday’s skate, the team’s lines were as follows:

Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-TJ Oshie

Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Anthony Mantha/Matthew Phillips

Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson

Martin Fehervary-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Lucas Johansen-Nick Jensen

Friday’s regular season opener against Pittsburgh is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.