The Washington Capitals were back to work Saturday morning at MedStar Capitals Iceplex following their 4-3 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres last night at Capital One Arena. The Sabres and Caps wrap-up their two-game set on Sunday with puck-drop set for 3:07 p.m.
Tom Wilson Injury Update
Tom Wilson did not practice with the team on Saturday. He sustained a lower-body injury in last nights game against the Sabres. He remains listed as day-to-day.
Capitals say Tom Wilson won’t practice with team today after sustaining a lower-body injury vs. Buffalo last night.
He’s considered day to day.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) January 23, 2021
Taxi Squad Practice Participants
Taxi squad members Daniel Carr, Connor McMichael and Martin Fehervary skated with the main practice group on Saturday.
Daniel Carr, Connor McMichael and Martin Fehervary are skating with the main group today at Caps practice.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) January 23, 2021
Practice lines
Capitals bench boss Peter Laviolette shuffled defensive pairs as he continues to assess players. Nick Jensen dropped out of the top-six and was replaced by Trevor van Riemsdyk in Saturday’s practice.
Caps D pairs looked a bit different today:
Dillon-Carlson
Chara-Schultz
Siegenthaler-TvR
Fehervary-Jensen— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) January 23, 2021
MEDIA SESSIONS
Lars Eller said the win last night, considering the amount of key players not in the lineup, and the loss of Tom Wilson in the third period, was “important for the room.”
Eller on defense: “Everybody knows what we are trying to do, now we just need to execute”
“I think we played ok, but I think we know we have another level”#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/6oSU2RZ4P5
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 23, 2021
Craig Anderson said his job is to be “ready to go”. He also said he has been mentoring the young goalies, Samsonov and Vanecek.
Anderson: re: interactions with young goalies “I try to talk to them and give them my life experiences” #ALLCAPS
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 23, 2021
Brenden Dillon said that the defense is still getting comfortable wit the new system and new players, and most of the goals have been on the account of missed assignments.
Brenden Dillon re: defense “a lot of the goals are missed assignments”#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/r5S8mWyKAu
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 23, 2021
Peter Laviolette confirmed Wilson is still “day-today”. He said no decision has been made on a potential replacement for Wilson if he cant go on Sunday. 11 forwards and 7 defensemen is an option. He also said no decision has been made on starting goaltender.
Laviolette on Wilson: “Day-to-day” Not sure who will cycle in if he cant go. 11F, 7D is an option, but no decision has been made. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/IxEYjSVZpm
— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) January 23, 2021
DOWN ON THE FARM
The Hershey Bears officially opened training camp on Saturday. The Bears begin their season on Friday, February 5 against the Binghamton Devils in Trenton, New Jersey. Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
So good to be back at the rink! #HBH pic.twitter.com/xn5BfSK2pI
— Zack Fisch (@zackfisch) January 23, 2021
SHAVINGS
- Capitals defenseman Zdeno Chara recorded his first point as a Capital in Friday night’s 4-3 shootout win against the Buffalo Sabres.
- Chara became the fifth defenseman in NHL history to record a regular-season point at the age of 43 or older, joining Chris Chelios (7g, 27a), Doug Harvey (2g, 20a), Tim Horton (1g, 14a) and Allan Stanley (1g, 5a), and he’s the oldest player in franchise history to record a point (previously Doug Mohns, age 41 in 1974-75 season).
- Chara has averaged 19:33 TOI this season. Chara could become the first player since 1997-98, both his first season and the NHL’s first season of tracking time on ice, to average at least 19 minutes per game at the age of 43 or older.
- Since 1997-98, Chara has led the NHL with 37,226:38 minutes, over 6,000 more minutes than the next closest player.
- Chara averaged 21:01 minutes per game last season, making him one of two defensemen in NHL history to record at least 21 minutes per game at the age of 42 since the NHL began tracking time on ice (Chelios: 2003-04).
- His 1,558 games rank third among all active players, first among defensemen, and he trails Nicklas Lidstrom by six games for fifth in NHL history among defensemen.
By Jon Sorensen
This would seem like an ideal time to give McMichael a go. He would need to be called up from the taxi squad by 5pm today, or possibly could be considered an emergency call up due to injury. Also, Daniel Carr is another option.