The Capitals held their usual game day morning skate Monday morning at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, to finalize preparations for their tilt with the Anaheim Ducks tonight at Capital One Arena. (Our full game preview is here). Capitals’ bench boss Todd Reirden made a couple of tweaks to the lines projected for tonight’s game.
Carl Hagelin participated in morning skate, but is still wearing the light-blue (non-contact) sweater. If he can’t play tonight, it will be the sixth straight game he’s missed due to injury.
Nic Dowd did not participate in the morning skate. According to Reirden, his laceration to the hand is a little more serious than originally thought.
The injury to Dowd (cut on hand) has turned out to be a little more severe than originally thought, per Reirden. Dowd did not skate this morning but is still day-to-day. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) November 18, 2019
Following morning skate, Reirden said Carl Hagelin and Nic Dowd remain day-to-day, but Hagelin is closer to returning.
The practice lines at this morning’s skate:
Capitals expected lines vs Anaheim:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Panik-Eller-Boyd*
Leipsic-Stephenson-HathawayKempny-Carlson
Orlov-Gudas
Siegenthaler-Jensen*Boyd with the move up to the third line
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 18, 2019
Travis Boyd was moved up to the third line, while Garnet Hathaway was moved down to the 4th line.
Braden Holtby will get the start tonight. Vitek Vanecek, who participated in this morning’s skate will be backup.
JUST DUCKY
Only a handful of players skated for the Ducks this morning.
John Gibson expected to start in net.
Judging by who is still on the ice, it looks like Troy Terry and Josh Mahura will sit out as healthy scratches and Ondrej Kase and Jacob Larsson will reenter lineup.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 18, 2019
BOYD BITS (From Capitals PR)
- Travis Boyd is scheduled to play in his 69th career game tonight against the Ducks.
- Shortly after being recalled from Hershey on Saturday, Boyd scored the Capitals’ first goal of the game against the Boston Bruins, marking his first goal of the season.
- Boyd has five points (1g, 4a) in seven games this season and has recorded a point in three of his last five games (1g, 3a).
- Among players with at least seven games played this season, Boyd leads the Capitals with 5.13 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five play and a 4.1 assists per 60 minutes of five-on-five play.
- Boyd, who has skated 58:31 of five-on-five time this season, also ranks first in the NHL in both respective categories among players with at least that much ice time (second in both respective categories: Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin: 2.62 assists per 60 minutes of five-on-five play; Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl: 4.35 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five play). Of Boyd’s four assists at five-on-five, three have been primary assists.
- Last season, Boyd’s 1.01 primary assists per 60 minutes of five-on-five play ranked second on the Capitals, behind Evgeny Kuznetsov (1.15).
SHAVINGS
- Rogers Hometown Hockey piece this weekend was on Barry Trotz. The short piece is certainly worth a watch.
Barry Trotz might be the most celebrated name from Dauphin. These hometown moments have helped shape Trotz as a Stanley Cup champion, a Jack Adams Award winner and one of the most successful head coaches in @NHL history.
Home Team Heroes | Presented by @Sobeys pic.twitter.com/OnTBa4CCgw
— Rogers Hometown Hockey (@hometownhockey_) November 18, 2019
ESSENTIAL LINKS
Washington Capitals Game Notes
Regression or Progression: Whose Scoring Output Will Increase Or Decrease?
By Jon Sorensen
Is Boyd a natural C? Struggles on the wing?