The Washington Capitals returned to MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Monday morning for final preparations for the Detroit Red Wings. The two teams do battle tonight at Capital One Arena, with puck drop set for just after 7PM.
MORNING SKATE
The forward lines and defensive pairs at morning skate on Monday, courtesy of Tom Gulitti/NHL.com:
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano— Evgeny Kuznetsov — Anthony Mantha
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Extras: Lucas Johansen, Joe Snively
Capitals PP1: Carlson, Ovechkin, Strome (in Oshie spot), Kuznetsov, Johansson
PP2: Gustafsson, Orlov, Sheary, Mantha, Milano.
T.J. Oshie (upper body) did not participate in the team’s morning skate. He was injured in the second period of Saturday night’s game against the Maple Leafs and did not return.
Nic Dowd (lower body) returned to the Capitals morning skate today after missing game Saturday. T.J. Oshie (upper body) did not participate this morning.
Ovi is in a mood this morning. Get your popcorn ready tonight. pic.twitter.com/iObrG6xq69
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) December 19, 2022
Martin Fehervary (upper body) was on the ice for Caps’ morning skate in a non-contact jersey. It was the first time he has skated with the team since his injury.
Nicklas Backstrom continues to skate in regular (full-contact) jersey. Tom Wilson also continues to skate in non-contact jersey.
Alex Alexeyev returned to skate in non-contact jersey.
Capitals will wait to see how Kuemper makes it through the morning skate to see if he can back up and then could potentially send down Zach Fucale and Hunter Shepard (depending upon Shepard’s health).
Update: Darcy Kuemper has been cleared to return from IR and will back up Charlie Lindgren tonight, per head coach Peter Laviolette. Nic Dowd is a game-time decision.
ROCK CITY
The Washington Capitals host the Detroit Red Wings for the second of three meetings between the two teams during the regular season. Detroit defeated Washington in the first one by a score of 3-1 at Little Caesers Arena on November 3 but Washington is 16-3-3 against them since the 2011-12 season.
Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market. [Preview here.]
SONNY DAYS
Sonny Milano recorded three assists on Saturday vs. Toronto, marking his second career three-assist game (also Dec. 1, 2021 vs. Vegas as a member of the Anaheim Ducks). Since making his Capitals debut on Nov. 5 versus Arizona, Milano has recorded 14 points (3g, 11a) in 20 games played.
Milano’s 11 assists rank tied for second on the Capitals during that span (Evgeny Kuznetsov: 14; Dylan Strome: 11; Alex Ovechkin: 11), while his 14 points rank tied for fifth. In addition, Milano has recorded three multi-point games with Washington, all of which have come in Capitals’ wins. Milano’s 2.52 points per 60 minutes at five-on-five this season also leads the Capitals. Milano is five points shy of 100 career points (39g, 56a). [More here.]
STAT OF THE DAY – BETTER THAN EXPECTED
Today’s stat of the day revisits is the Capitals’ expected goals differential (xGF – xGA). As we noted back on December 10 (here), the Capitals differential has been steadily improving since a season low on November 13.
The Capitals differential continues to improve, from a monthly low of -3.14 to +1.00 for the season. That’s an impressive improvement that is a reflection of the Capitals won-loss record in the month of December.
DOWN ON THE FARM
Both Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre scored in the Hershey Bears 5-2 victory over the Lehigh Vally Phantoms last night. First, Lapierre ended a five-game points drought with a power play goal.
Hendrix Lapierre ends his dry spell, pots his 8th of the season on the power play. #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/HdStv36yf0
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 18, 2022
Then in the third period, Connor McMichael made an eye-popping play to give the Bears a 4-3 lead.
Connor Mc Oh My! Connor McMichael gives the Bears a 4-3 lead late in the 3rd. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/GnLzM5ytB7
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) December 19, 2022
Ivan Miroshnichenko played in his 4th KHL game today. He recorded 3 shots and 3 hits in just 6:18 of ice time. He is definitely making the most of his ice time.
By Jon Sorensen
How long has it been since Snively was actually in a game, NHL or AHL? Since he’s not on the ice with the expected 20 game players, what exactly does he do in practice?
Biscuit had the exact same question!
So you’re going to make me do the work? Ok. Best I can tell, Snively has not played at all with Hershey this year. He has played in five Caps games, last one being Nov 15 against Panthers. Since then, he has sat for 15 Caps games, over a month. This season, Caps and Bears together have played 61 games and he has played in 5.
Any player coming back from injury will tell you that practice is fine but they needed to get back in the game. Biscuit is right to ask that question.
I assume that Lavi doesn’t feel that Snively is better than his other options yet GMBM is afraid if he is sent down, some other team will grab him off waivers. So Snively just sits and goes stale. Again, what does he even do in practice? Does he ever practice with the players who are going to play that night?
Personally I’m not too worried about Snives, but look at what Milano has done. 14 pts in 20 games, or. 7 pts/gm. All for league minimum. Maybe the best value contract in all of the NHL. Can we lock this kid up for awhile?
Agree about Milano. But I do worry about Snively’s development as I worried about McM’s and any of the players who were in the COVID taxi. Sitting out tons of games is just not good for player development.
How does Backstrom shed his non contact jersey and Wilson still has his? It seemed like Wilson would be closer to playing than Backstrom.
I wish I could say, as I am with you. Back in August I would have never bet Backstrom returned before Wilson.
Agreed. While I fear Nicky might be coming back too soon, Tom not coming back by now does not give me good vibes.
Same here.
What will happen to Alexeyev?
I’ll take Boneheaded Capitals Decisions for $200, Alex
Answer: Sent down to Hershey, or claimed on waivers by another team.
You already provided the question
This was funny.