The Washington Capitals made their way to Texas following the team’s practice on Wednesday. They next face the Dallas Stars tonight (preview here) before departing for Nashville in advance of their tilt with the Predators on Saturday night.
LINES AND PAIRS
Darcy Kuemper was the first goalie off the ice this morning, indicating he will likely get the start tonight against the Stars. The forward lines and defensive pairs at today’s morning skate (via Samantha Pell/Washington Post):
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Marcus Johansson — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas — Lars Eller — Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Extras: Connor McMichael, Joe Snively, Matt Irwin
STAR TREATMENT
The Capitals visit the Dallas Stars tonight at American Airlines Center for the first of two meetings between the teams this season. Washington is 34-49-16-4 all-time vs. the Dallas/Minnesota North Stars franchise and 5-2-3 in their last 10 games against the Stars dating back to the 2016-17 season. (Via Caps Today)
Capitals are on the ice for morning skate in Dallas. Puck drop 8:30pm ET. pic.twitter.com/iKgfJyH3fo
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 27, 2022
In addition, the Capitals have won two-straight games at Dallas and have a record of 4-0-1 in their last five games at American Airlines Center. In 2021-22, Washington split the season series with Dallas 1-1-0, outscoring the Stars 7-3 in two games.
STAT OF THE DAY – SHOT DIFFERENTIALS
Today’s stat presents the current average shot differentials per game for each NHL team (Shots For/Game – Shots Against/Game) so far this season. [Click to enlarge].
The Capitals currently have the league’s 7th worst shots per game differential at -4.80. In other words, they are giving up an average of nearly 5 more shots on goal than they are shooting per game. Part of the early poor performance is directly related to the Capitals recent tilt with the New Jersey Devils, who are tops in the league in the category.
SHAVINGS
- The Capitals have a road record of 45-19-8 since the 2020-21 season, good for the most wins, points (98) and point percentage (.681) in that span. Washington’s 3.51 goals per game on the road rank second in the NHL since 2020-21, while their 2.89 goals against rank eighth.
- Capitals-Stars Game Notes
DOWN ON THE FARM
Capitals forward prospect Alexander Suzdalev scored his 6th goal of the season last night against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 18-year-old now has 6g, 3a in just 11 games played so far this season.
Alexander Suzdalev with a power play ripper, his 6th goal of the season. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/YAF45fYILo
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 27, 2022
Suzdalev was asked after a recent practice who would play him in a movie. He’s a very confident kid.
“Who would play you in a movie?” #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/g89ElMTO4n
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) October 27, 2022
Should be a really good game tonight and a tough one as their goalies are very good so far. Was reading where the Islanders put Kieffer Bellows on waivers. Might be a nice pickup for the Caps and let his get some playing time in Hershey as I think he has only played what 7 minutes this year. After all he is only 24 and did fairly well last year, just not sure what the Islanders are doing as they really havent given him much of a chance. .
Just saw where the Flyers claimed Bellows. I assume they were ahead of the Capitals in the waivers claiming order.
Jon, where are the Caps and Bears on their total contracts. Do either still have openings? I see this in CapFriendly so assume Caps have 3:
ROSTER SIZE: 23/23
CONTRACTS: 47/50
RESERVE LIST: 66/90
INJURIES: 7
Have no idea what the reserve list is
And don’t know anything about AHL limits. Or what they could use. I think of Caps aquiring players and sending them down as through the Bears could play everyone but they can only put so many people on the ice each night.
The Capitals are now at 47/50 contracts. They actually dipped a bit because of the loss of the Axel and Leason.
Should start Lindgren.