Photo: @washcaps
The Capitals have made their way to Minnesota. The Capitals will be looking for their fifth-straight win when they square-off against the Minnesota Wild Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Afternoon Practice
Offensive lines:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Johansson-Wilson
Galiev-Laich-Latta
Defensive pairs:
Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Chorney
The team is currently scheduled to hold morning skate at 11:30 CT on Thursday.
News and Notes
- As per WaPo, there’s a chance Brooks Orpik plays tomorrow, but even if he doesn’t, he might take warmups. In any case, all signs point to a return soon. When he does get back into the lineup, he’ll start on third pair.
- Richards status for tomorrow night’s game is unknown. The team will re-assess tomorrow.
- After last night, the Caps became the first team in NHL history with 39 wins through their first 52 regular season games.
- The Capitals remain are still the only team in the NHL with single-digit losses.
- Alex Ovechkin’s empty net power-play goal last night ended a streak of 18 consecutive power plays without a goal, yet the Caps still have the number one ranked power play in the NHL.
- The Wild has lost 14 of 17 games in 2016 (3-10-4), 11 of the past 12 games (1-9-2), six in a row overall since Jan. 21 (0-4-2) and six straight at home since Dec. 28 (0-3-3).
Richards injury may have occurred here:
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Standings
Other Stories
Barry Trotz – Post-practice interview (MSE)
Capitals Play Middle Match of Trip in Minnesota (Dump N’ Chase)
With NHL elite Caps in town, the heat is on Wild coach Mike Yeo (Star-Tribune)
Mike Richards’s status uncertain after maintenance day (WaPo)
Marcus Johansson returns with a three-point night to lift Capitals (WaPo)
Capitals’ power play in a slump (WaPo)
