Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie Did Not Travel With Team – Will Miss Both Games This Weekend; Michal Kempny Re-ssigned To Taxi Squad: News From Morning Skate In St. Louis

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Jon Sorensen


The Washington Capitals held their gameday morning skate Friday morning at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The Capitals battle the Blues tonight with puck drop set for 8:00 PM ET. (NBCSW, NHLN).

The team announced on Friday morning that Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie did not travel with the team to St. Louis. They will miss both games this weekend and were both placed on injured reserve.

The Capitals also announced that Martin Fehervary and Dennis Cholowski have been returned to the active roster and Michal Kempny has been re-assigned to the taxi squad.

Ilya Samsonov will get the start tonight in goal. Samsonov and Zach Fucale were the only netminders on the ice for this morning’s workout. Vitek Vanecek did travel with the team but did not skate this AM, per team.

According to Laviolette, Connor McMichael will be a healthy scratch tonight.

Battling The Blues

The Capitals begin a two-game road trip tonight when they face the St. Louis Blues at 7 p.m. CT. This marks Washington’s first game against St. Louis since Oct. 2, 2019, a 3-2 overtime win at Enterprise Center.

The Blues have the league’s best power play. The Capitals have the better possession numbers and ‘goals for’ differential. The Blues have the better ‘goals against’ differential.

Road Warriors

The Capitals have a 10-3-3 record on the road this season and their .719 road point percentage ranks tied for second in the NHL (Carolina Hurricanes: .750; Pittsburgh Penguins: .719).

Through 16 road games, Washington has scored 3.44 goals per game and have allowed 2.63 goals against per game, which rank third and sixth in the NHL respectively. The Capitals are one of three teams to rank in the top six in each category (Toronto Maple Leafs: 3.38 GF/GP ranks tied for fifth, 2.62 GA/GP ranks fifth; Pittsburgh Penguins: 3.38 GF/GP ranks tied for fifth, 2.25 GA/GP ranks first).

The Capitals have earned a point in 11 of their last 13 road games (8-2-3) dating back to Nov. 4 and own the NHL’s top road record since the start of the 2020-21 season (29-10-5, 63 points). Additionally, The Capitals have won four of their last five games on the road against the Blues (4-1-0).

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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5 Responses to Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie Did Not Travel With Team – Will Miss Both Games This Weekend; Michal Kempny Re-ssigned To Taxi Squad: News From Morning Skate In St. Louis

  1. Leslie+Galen says:
    January 7, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    Back on IR eh? More good news:(
    When the heck will this team get to be This Team?!?!
    Boohoo as usual 😡😢

    Reply
  2. steven says:
    January 7, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    Just wondering who gets the start tonight? And if Samsonov, then does Fucale get the start on Saturday? The one bright spot about the injuries is all the rookies and young players getting vluable playing time and on different lines. This will only help the team not only the rest of this season but in the years to come. Having the young guys play well might make it a bit easier to make a trade of a player and get back only picks and not ahve to take on any salary. Speaking of young guys do you have any idea what the Caps plans are for Rait, Sutter, Snively, Gerisch, Pinho and Malenstyn? Seems like we have a lot of young guys who will be UFA or RFA after the season and maybe they could, if not in the Cpas future plans, be traded for mid levelpicks or am I shooting to high?

    Reply

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