Matt Roy is back for the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, giving them a needed reinforcement on defense as they try to extend their best start of the season. Roy was activated from injured reserve and is expected to return after missing six games with a lower-body injury.
The timing matters because the Capitals can claim their first three-game winning streak of the 2026-27 campaign if they beat the Kings at Capital One Arena. Washington has already put together consecutive wins over the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils, and now gets a team that has not found its first victory yet. The Kings are the NHL's last winless team, off to a 0-4-2 start, and they have scored only 12 goals in their first six games.
Roy's return is also a lineup change that could matter in the details of the matchup. He is expected to skate on the top pairing with Jakob Chychrun, which gives the Capitals another defender who can handle minutes in more than one situation. Spencer Carbery said Roy is a big part of the team, one of its leaders, and someone who logs a lot of minutes, so Washington gets more than a fresh body back. It gets structure back.
That matters against a Kings team that has gone four straight games with one goal while allowing 4.17 goals per game, the third-worst mark in the NHL. Carbery said Los Angeles will be desperate and hungry for two points, and he expects a heavy dose of the 1-3-1 system. That setup can slow a game down, force the puck to the outside and punish teams that try to attack without patience. If Washington is careless with the puck or overcommits, the Kings can drag the game into the kind of grind that gives a winless team a better chance than its record suggests.
There is one other layer to the night. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif remain out because of illness, with Dubois skating Tuesday morning in a light blue no-contact jersey and Sourdif not yet back on the rink. Boone Jenner and Jonny Brodzinski will stay down the middle for the Capitals, a reminder that Washington is still managing its lineup even as Roy returns. Brodzinski also has history on the other side, having started his NHL career with the Kings in 2016-17. The Capitals have the better form, the deeper edge and now one more defenseman back in the fold. The question is whether that is enough to turn a promising homestand into a longer run and keep Los Angeles waiting for its first win a little longer.
