Washington Capitals Daily Report (11-12-15)

The Caps arrived in Philly late Tuesday night following their loss to the Red Wings in Detroit, and had the day off on Wednesday. The Capitals face the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center tonight in the first game of a back-to-back set. Washington hosts the Calgary Flames at Verizon Center on Friday. The Capitals are 4-0-0 in back-to-back games this season.

Morning Skate
Brooks Orpik was not on the ice for morning skate today. Orpik sustained an injury in Tuesday nights game against the Red Wings. Nate Schmidt and John Carlson practiced as the top defensive line. Orpik is a game time decision.The complete morning practice lines were:

Grubauer hit with a stick in a.m. skate (Photo: @capsbigbossman)

Offensive Lines
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Johansson-Backstrom-Burakovsky
Chimera-Beagle-Williams
Laich-Latta-Wilson

Defensive Pairs:
Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Chorney

Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer left the ice with a cut under his eye. An errant stick lifted his mask and cut him.

As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, the practice included a shakeup with the power play lines. Looks like Jason Chimera is on PP2. Kuznetsov also on PP2 in practice with Johansson back on PP1. No Andre Burakovsky on either power play. Trotz said this change was related to wanting to get more traffic in front of net on PP.

Capitals @ Flyers
This is the first of four meetings between the Capitals and Flyers this season. They will not see each other again until January 27 when the Flyers come to DC. The Capitals went 1-3 against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014-15.

Ex-Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth started four straight games for the Flyers, but that run ends tonight. Steve Mason back in goal for the Flyers tonight. Mason is 2-4-2 with a 3.34 GAA and a .902 save pct. in eight appearances (seven starts) this season.

Philadelphia is averaging just 1.80 goals per game in 2015-16, second to last in the NHL. At the other end of the ice, the Flyers are permitting an average of 34.3 shots on goal per game, the second highest rate in the circuit.

For a complete game preview, click here:

Current Standings

News and Notes

Alex Ovechkin is one goal shy of passing Sergei Fedorov to become the all-time Russian-born NHL goal scorer. Ovechkin tied Fedorov on Saturday night against the Maple Leafs.
14 games into the season, the Caps lead the league in yielding the fewest shots per game, with an average of just over 25 shots per game.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation will host the fifth Capitals Casino Night presented by Leonsis Foundation on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 6 to10 p.m. at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington, Va. Casino Night features the entire team along with coaches, alumni and owners participating in casino games with fans. For more info, click here:
Watch ABC News 7 and News Channel 8 Good Morning Washington on Friday for their one-on-one with Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Ticket Trends
At 11:30 this morning, 797 tickets remained on Stubhub for tomorrow night’s game against the Calgary Flames. Prices range from $33 for upper deck, section 412, to $331 for glass seat (Row A) in section 110. For more information on tickets via Stubhub, click on the seating chart.