Washington Capitals Daily Report – 3/9

Photo: @westcoasthky

The Capitals are in Los Angeles today for their heavy-weight bout with the Kings tonight. The game marks the return of former Kings’ players Justin Williams and Mike Richards. Puck0drop is a daunting but manageable 10:30 PM EST.

@capsbigbossman

Morning Skate
The Caps held morning skate today at 11:30 PST, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The practice lines for today:

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

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

It looks like Michael Latta, Stanislav Galiev and Nate Schmidt are the healthy scratches for tonight’s game against the Kings. Braden Holtby will get the start in net for the Caps. Jonathan Quick will get the start for the Kings.

@agoldrand

News and Notes

The Capitals “magic number” – the breakdown can be found here:
The Capitals haven’t won a game at Staples Center since 2005.
Tonight’s game marks the second and final meeting between the teams this season. Washington defeated Los Angeles 3-1 on Feb. 16 at Verizon Center.
The Capitals have posted a 14-4-2 record against Western Conference teams this season, outscoring their opponents 66-48 in those games.
The Caps will be seeking their 50th win of the season tonight. The Caps have only done this three previous times in franchise history.
Andre Burakovsky scored a goal on Monday against Anaheim. He has earned 23 points in his last 25 games.
Braden Holtby stopped 27 of 28 shots on Monday against Anaheim to earn his League-leading 41st win of the season, tying the franchise record for most wins in a single season (Holtby, 2014-15 and Olie Kolzig, 1999-2000).
The Capitals have posted a 23-7-2 record on the road this season, ranking first in the NHL in road point percentage (.750) and second in road wins (23) and road points (48).
Washington sits one win shy of tying the franchise record for road wins in a season (2009-10: 24) and the Capitals’ 23 road wins are tied for the most road victories through a team’s first 32 road games in NHL history.

Alex Ovechkin talking hockey with Jeanie Buss at Staples. pic.twitter.com/vCpV8kyuFe

— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) March 9, 2016

Capitals @ Kings
After leading the Pacific Division for a good portion of the season, the resurgent Ducks have recently passed the Kings up, and now the Kings trail the Ducks by a point in the Pacific Division. Expect one of the “heaviest” games of the season tonight, as the Kings play more of a physical game than a speed game. The puck-battles, play in the corners and net-front play will tell the story tonight. The Kings lines for tonight: