Following a day-off on Sunday, the Capitals returned to practice this morning at Kettler, and finalized preparations for tonight’s game versus the Blue Jackets. Puck-drop is 7:00 PM. The Capitals also held a photo session prior to practice to take the annual team photo.

Morning skate:
T.J. Oshie returned to practice this morning and looks like he will able to play tonight against Columbus. The practice lines at morning skate:

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

Defensive Pairs
Alzner-Niskanen
Schmidt-Carlson
Orpik-Orlov

Braden Holtby was the first off the ice this morning and will get the start tonight against the Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky makes 7th start since returning from injury for Blue Jackets. In past 6 he’s 2-4-0 with 3.00 GAA, .898 save percentage. (@Swhyno)

News and Notes

• The Capitals will clinch the Presidents’ Trophy and No. 1 seed in the playoffs tonight if they get at least one point vs. Columbus.
• Assuming Oshie is in the starting lineup tonight, this will be the first time the Caps lineup has been fully healthy since before Orpik got hurt on Nov. 10 in Detroit.
• Tonight is Swedish Heritage Night at Verizon Center. Watch for the NoVa Caps report to follow from our resident Swede.
• The Washington Capitals have signed goaltender Adam Carlson to a two-year, entry-level contract, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. More here:
• As previously noted, the Caps had their team photo taken today. For behind the scenes video, click here:

Is winning a Presidents’ Trophy something to be proud of?

Backstrom: “Honestly, it doesn’t mean anything.”

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) March 28, 2016

Plenty of talk about “rest” lately, but only from fans/media. Next player I talk to who thinks sitting out is helpful will be the first one.

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) March 28, 2016

Photo @SofieJBengtsson

Other Stories
Barry Trotz post-practice presser (Video) Monumental Sports
News and Notes From Caps’ Morning Skate (Dump N’ Chase)
Capitals aim for Presidents’ Trophy vs. Blue Jackets (NHL.com)
Caps Built on Foundation of Alzner & Carlson (The Hockey Writers)
The Capitals only need one point to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy (WaPo)
With the Capitals fully healthy, Michael Latta finds himself on the outside looking in (WaPo)

Playoff Status
The Capitals will play the second Wild Card team to start the playoffs. If the playoffs started, the Capitals would face the Flyers in round one.