Washington Capitals Daily Report (2/4)

Photo: @washcaps

The Washington Capitals wrapped up preparations for their game against the Islanders tonight at Verizon Center. Puck-drop is 7:30 PM. The Caps will hit the road for New Jersey immediately following practice tomorrow. Friday’s practice is currently scheduled for 11:30 AM.

Morning Skate
Marcus Johansson skated before practice, but left the ice during morning skate. Johansson is not expected to play tonight. Brooks Orpik skated with the team during practice again today. Taylor Chorney, who has been suffering from the flu, participated in morning skate today. The practice lines for morning rushes:

Forwards:
Ovechkin–Backstrom–Oshie
Burakovsky–Kuznetsov–Williams
Chimera–Richards–Wilson
Laich–Latta–Sill

Defensemen:
Schmidt–Carlson
Alzner–Niskanen
Orlov–Chorney

Goaltenders:
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer

Braden Holtby will get the start tonight for the Capitals. Jaroslav Halak will get the start in net tonight for the Islanders.

Braden Holtby was sporting his new mask this morning. The mask will be worn during warm-ups tonight and auctioned off tonight as a part of the “Military Appreciation Night”.

Bid on this beast of a mask here: https://t.co/rAl1u4iBYc

Military Night presented by @BoeingDefense tonight! pic.twitter.com/cuLsgXzSa7

— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) February 4, 2016

News and Notes

Trotz said he is hopeful that Marcus Johansson will make the road trip next week. but implied that Johansson will miss the games this weekend.
Trotz said it’s possible Brooks Orpik skates with the team in practice tomorrow. Has only been doing morning skates.
Trotz said the plan is for Braden Holtby to play both games of the back-to-back set this weekend games.
The Capitals recalled defenseman Aaron Ness. Taylor Chorney has the flu and is questionable for tonight’s game. As per Isabelle Khurshudyan, Ness was added as an emergency recall, so if he plays, it shouldn’t count toward that 10-game, 30-day waiver-eligibility benchmark.
Several members of the Capitals took a private tour of the White House yesterday. All the pics are right here:

The Washington Capitals will host their 14th annual “Salute to the Military” on Thursday, Feb. 4, during the game against the New York Islanders at Verizon Center at 7:30 p.m. Salute to the Military Night is an evening dedicated to honoring the men and women who have served the country in the armed forces. During pregame warm-ups the Capitals will wear camouflage jerseys, which will be signed and auctioned off by Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) Foundation. The auction opened at noon on Monday, Feb. 1, on Handbid and will conclude at the end of the second intermission during the Caps game against the Islanders on Feb. 4.