The Washington Capitals returned to practice at Kettler this morning (Saturday) after having the day-off yesterday. The Caps (12-5-1) host the Colorado Avalanche (7-11-1) tonight at Verizon Center. Puck-drop is 7:08 PM.

Morning Skate
The Capitals returned Justin Williams to the second line this morning.  Andre Burakovsky, who donned a white practice jersey (bottom six) will be out of the line up tonight, and Stanislav Galiev will be in the lineup.  Practice lines at this mornings skate:

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

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

Coach Trotz also started to tinker with the power play lines this morning. Marcus Johansson was moved to the second unit, and Justin Williams moved up to the first unit.

PP1: 8-19-77-74-14/90
PP2: 25-92-14/90-49-2

Brooks Orpik did not participate in today’s morning skate, so it is assumed he will miss his 5th straight game after sustaining a lower body injury in Detroit.

Avalanche @ Capitals
The Capitals will look to rebound from Thursday night’s 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.  The Caps, 4-4 in the month of November, are in need of a decisive home-ice victory.  For more information on this game, check out the NoVa Caps game preview right here:

News and Notes

• As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, Trotz on Burakovsky: “He’s been playing on a higher line, and we haven’t gotten much.” Said nothing gets message across like ice time.  Trotz also pointed this out: one point in 11 games for Andre Burakovsky.
• As per Mike Vogel, Trotz said few days back he had to get Galiev in. Fourth line playing well, so this route makes sense.
• On 49 getting in over 65, Trotz said he thinks 49 “deserves a chance.” Said he expects more from 65. “We haven’t gotten much production.”
• Trotz said Orpik is indeed out. Still says it’s not serious, but said Orpik would need a couple of practices before he’d get in a game.
• As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, Wilson doesn’t doubt that GMs have complained about him, which he understandably wasn’t happy about.

Morning Shots

Latest Stories
Andre Burakovsky scratched in favor of Stanislav Galiev
Brooks Orpik to miss fifth straight game with lower-body injury
Stanislav Galiev is here to stay — which isn’t good for his development (WaPo)
Capitals have coughed up first goal for nine straight games (WaPo)
Why Barry Trotz knew Alex Ovechkin would score his 484th goal against Dallas (WaPo)

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