FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — When the Washington Capitals acquired forward Justin Sourdif from the Florida Panthers, it wasn’t because the Panthers had given up on the 23-year-old or didn’t think he’d be an NHL player.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions have a veteran-laden lineup, with little room for young players on the fringes of the roster. After three professional seasons with just four total NHL games played, Sourdif was traded to the Capitals in July.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — When the Washington Capitals acquired forward Justin Sourdif from the Florida Panthers, it wasn’t because the Panthers had given up on the 23-year-old or didn’t think he’d be an NHL player.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions have a veteran-laden lineup, with little room for young players on the fringes of the roster. After three professional seasons with just four total NHL games played, Sourdif was traded to the Capitals in July.
On Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena, Sourdif will play for the first time against the team that drafted him.
“I was super excited to get to Washington and get the chance to play with all these great group of guys over here,” Sourdif said Thursday morning. “I’ve been welcomed and it’s been amazing so far. I’ve really enjoyed my time in D.C. and I’m starting to get really comfortable with everybody and just the systems and whatnot. Having a fresh start was definitely nice.”
Sourdif’s Capitals conclude a four-game trip, their longest of the season so far, against the Panthers on Thursday. Washington lost the first two games of the trip in Pittsburgh and in Tampa, then rebounded with a 4-1 win against Carolina on Tuesday.
“Carolina, Tampa and Florida, when I watch them play, I get excited, because the style and how they play is exactly how I feel like you win in this league and how you win Stanley Cups,” Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery said. “Any time you get to play against these guys — we just played Carolina, so we felt a lot of their [defensive] pressure, their pinches. They’re really aggressive and take time and space away and make you have to earn everything that you get offensively when you have the puck. We’re going to see that again [against Florida].
“Just be careful thinking that just because you’ve played it, you’re going to have success playing against it again. That’s not how it works. … A lot of those same things are going to need to be replicated again. Doesn’t mean it’s going to be easier, just because we did it. Those were hard things we had to do.”
Logan Thompson will start in goal for the Capitals for the third game in a row. Daniil Tarasov is expected to start for the Panthers, who have had a slow start this season while two of their top forwards, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, are out with long-term injuries.
Time: 7 p.m. Eastern
Location: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Fla.
TV/radio: Monumental Sports Network; 106.7 the Fan
Capitals
Forwards
Anthony Beauvillier — Dylan Strome — Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas — Connor McMichael — Tom Wilson
Hendrix Lapierre — Justin Sourdif — Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Ethen Frank
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun — Matt Roy
Declan Chisholm — Rasmus Sandin
Goaltenders
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Panthers
Forwards
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
Carter Verhaeghe — Evan Rodrigues — Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist — Sam Bennett — Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer — Cole Schwindt — Luke Kunin
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango — Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Daniil Tarasov
Sergei Bobrovsky
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