The Washington Capitals were back at MedStar Capitals Iceplex Saturday morning for their gameday morning skate in advance of their tilt with the Ottawa Senators tonight at Capital One Arena.
Nick Jensen, who was injured in Thursday night’s game against the Bruins, was out early to take a test run, but immediately left the ice.
Nick Jensen took a few laps but is back down the tunnel. Sheary and Fehervary both back and look to be a full go. So far, no sign of Oshie or Carlson. @NoVa_Caps pic.twitter.com/YDWbYcpVk4
— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) January 22, 2022
Dmitry Orlov was in the ice for a skate but will miss tonight’s game against the Senators. He will serve the second game of his two-game suspension for kneeing Nicolas Ehlers in Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Dmitry Orlov out early at Morning Skate for extra ice time. He will serve the second game of his suspension this evening against Ottawa @NoVa_Caps pic.twitter.com/BGh96KhgXv
— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) January 22, 2022
John Carlson (COVID protocol) and T.J. Oshie (injured reserve) were also non-participants in morning skate. The Capitals lines this morning:
Capitals lines at morning skate:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Hathaway
Protas-Backstrom-Wilson
McMichael-Eller-Sheary
Hagelin-Dowd-LeasonFehervary-Schultz
Kempny-TvR
Cholowski-Irwin*No Carlson (Covid), Orlov (suspension), Jensen (upper-body), Oshie (IR)
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) January 22, 2022
Vitek Vanecek was the first goalie off the ice and looks to get the start tonight against the Senators. Daniel Sprong looks like he will be a healthy scratch, again.
Schultz leads the breakdown as Morning Skate wraps up. Vanecek off ice first, indicating he’s likely to start tonight. @NoVa_Caps pic.twitter.com/EtS99rCk72
— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) January 22, 2022
The Capitals face the Ottawa Senators tonight at Capital One Arena for the second time this season. Washington won the first matchup, 7-5, on Oct. 25, 2021, at Canadian Tire Centre behind Alex Ovechkin’s two goals.
Capitals PP1: Schultz, Ovechkin, Wilson, Backstrom, Kuznetsov.
PP2: Cholowski (pt), TvR (left circle), Protas (bumper), Eller (half wall), Sheary (goal line)
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) January 22, 2022
Alex Ovechkin
Ovechkin has 53 points (33g, 20a) in 49 career games against the Senators, 13 points (10g, 3a) in his last 11 games and is coming into tonight’s game with four-straight multi-point efforts (6g, 2a) in his last four games versus Ottawa. No active player in the NHL has more goals against the Senators than Ovechkin.
Hagelin 700
Caps forward Carl Hagelin is expected to play in his 700th career game tonight against the Senators. It will mark his 174th career game with the Capitals after playing 266 with the New York Rangers, 195 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 43 with the Anaheim Ducks and 22 with the Los Angeles Kings.
Hagelin leads Capitals forwards this season with 71:58 of penalty kill time. At 5-on-5 this season, Hagelin has only started 29.8% of his shifts in the offensive zone, the second-lowest percentage on the Capitals (Nic Dowd: 26.2%). Despite starting most of his shifts outside the offensive zone, the Capitals have a positive shot attempt percentage at five-on-five with Hagelin on the ice (442 shot attempts for, 408 against, 52.0%), and have outscored opponents 14-12.
The @Senators are getting some ice time at MedStar this morning as the Hoyas have a matinee game downtown. @NoVa_Caps pic.twitter.com/sJB20q7KdM
— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) January 22, 2022
