The Washington Capitals returned home from their season-long six-game road trip Wednesday night following their 4-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia. The team had a much-deserved day-off on Thursday before returning to work on Friday morning. They next host the Seattle Kraken tonight at Capital One Arena with puck drop set for 7PM ET.

The Capitals forward lines and defensive pairs at morning skate courtesy of Tom Gulitti/NHL.com:

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Anthony Mantha
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Erik Gustafsson — John Carlson
Trevor van Riemsdyk  — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Matt Irwin

Charlie Lindgren
Hunter Shepard

Extras: Joe Snively, Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Dmitry Orlov skated in a regular jersey. Charlie Lindgren and Hunter Shepard were the two goalies in net for Capitals’ morning skate. Lindgren was the first off the ice, indicating he will most likely get the start.

That’s Tom Wilson (ACL surgery) and Nicklas Backstrom (hip surgery) in non-contact jerseys warning up before the Capitals morning skate. First time for Wilson. Backstom has done twice before pic.twitter.com/tWnVlGEo63

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) December 9, 2022

Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom skated before and participated in the Capitals team morning skate this morning at MedStar. They donned non-contact jerseys.

Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom are skating in non-contact jerseys ahead of Capitals’ morning skate today. pic.twitter.com/2UyDRqLd1b

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) December 9, 2022

Orlov was paired with Aube-Kubel as extras. Joe Snively, Tom Wilson Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom mixed in with other lines. Darcy Kuemper and Martin Fehervary did not participate in morning skate.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol confirmed that Jaden Schwartz will not play tonight. He is out day-to-day with an upper body injury. He also confirmed that Philipp Grubauer will get the start in net.

No Jaden Schwartz at #SEAKraken morning skate. #Kraken #NHL pic.twitter.com/PsAJFlmKdm

— Geoff Baker (@GeoffBakerTIMES) December 9, 2022

The Washington Capitals wrap up their regular-season series with the Seattle Kraken on Friday just eight days after falling at Climate Pledge Arena by a score of 3-2 in overtime despite leading 2-0 after the first period. Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington+ in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market starting at 7 PM ET

STAT OF THE DAY – FACEOFF WINNING PERCENTAGE

The Capitals faceoff winning percentage, like most of the team’s stats, had a rough start to the 2022-23 season. Also similar to a number of stats, the team’s faceoff winning percentage continues to improve over the last month. [Click to enlarge].

The Capitals currently have a team faceoff winning percentage of 48.4%, which is 22nd-best in the league.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Clay Stevenson was recalled by the Bears earlier this week (here). The Bears have a three-game set this weekend, so it’s likely Stevenson would get one of the starts, possibly on Saturday, should the goaltending situation remain the same for the Capitals and Bears.

Clay Stevenson, called up by the Hershey Bears on Monday, looking good in the chocolate and white. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/9CmKZOvo8d

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 6, 2022

Ivan Miroshnichenko recorded 2 shots and 2 hits in his third KHL game on Thursday. He has moved from 13th forward (4:28 TOI) in his first KHL game to LW on the 4th line (9:13 TOI) in his second game and was LW on the third line (12:04 TOI) against Ak Bars on Thursday.

MORNING RINK LINKS

• Seattle Kraken at Washington Capitals Game Preview (NoVa Caps)
• T.J. Oshie talks about being teammates with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (NoVa Caps)
• Positive trends continue for the Washington Capitals (NoVa Caps)

good vibes for your friday pic.twitter.com/AUMn3vSbbc

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 9, 2022

By Jon Sorensen