Washington Capitals Daily Report – 3/7

The Capitals made their way west yesterday (Sunday) and are in Anaheim today, preparing for their game against the Ducks tonight. Puck-drop is 10:00 PM EST. The Caps will then head across town to Los Angeles tomorrow for their next game against the Kings on Wednesday.

Morning Skate
All Caps were present at today’s practice, with the exception of John Carlson (injury) who is on the trip. Practice lines at practice today:

@capsbigbossman

Offensive Lines
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Johansson-Wilson
Winnik-Richards-Beagle

Defensive Pairs:
Alzner-Niskanen
Orpik-Orlov
Weber-Schmidt

Braden Holtby will get the start in net tonight for the Capitals. John Gibson gets the start for the Ducks.

It looks like Michael Latta, Taylor Chorney and Stanislav Galiev will be the healthy scratches for tonight’s game versus the Ducks. Coach Trotz’s pre-game presser can be found here: Alex Ovechkin’s post-practice presser can be found here:

Capitals @ Ducks
Anaheim got off to a horrid start in October, going 1-7-2. The poor start continued, which eventually led to rumors that head coach Bruce Boudreau’s job could be in jeopardy. However, since January 20th, the Ducks have been clicking on all cylinders and are the league’s hottest team, going 18-1-1 in their last 20 games, including winning their last 11 straight games.

This is the caps fifth game in seven nights. Considering the cross-country travel and shift in time zones, the Caps will need to get off to a good start tonight, and stay even with the Ducks for most of the contest, and try to win it late. The penalty’s and how they are handled will also be a critical component to the game tonight, as both teams are in the top-five in power plays and top-five in penalty kills. Who wins the man-advantage situations may affect the outcome more in this one than in any other game.

#NHL Metro Div: Points per game

Kuznetsov 1.02
Crosby 1.02
Malkin 1.02
Backstrom .98
Ovechkin .95
Letang .91
Giroux .90
Cammalleri .90

— Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL) March 7, 2016

News and Notes:

With the win on Saturday, the Capitals improved to franchise-best 48-13-4 (100pts) through 65 games. The Presidents Trophy winners in 2009-10 were 44-13-8 (96pts) at same stage’
The Capitals have yet to lose back-to-back games in regulation this season.
The Caps are the first team in NHL history to play 10 consecutive one-goal games, all settled without a shootout. (From @EliasSports).
The Capitals are the 10th team in NHL history to reach the 100-point plateau in 65 games or less. (From @CapitalsPR).
Former Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has coached four 50-win seasons, two with Washington and two with Anaheim. Boudreau won his 400th game on Saturday against the Kings in Los Angeles, the fastest to 400 win in NHL history.

@JoeBpXp