The Washington Capitals held their gameday morning skate Tuesday morning at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Following tonight’s tilt against the Blue Jackets, the Capitals will be off until February 11 when they visit the Bruins in Boston. Here’s the latest from the Capitals universe:

Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette made changes (once again) to the top three lines. Connor Sheary returned to the top line and T.J. Oshie moved down to the second line on the right side. Sonny Milano moved down to the third line with Evgeny Kuznetsov.

The Capitals forward lines and defensive pairs at morning skate, courtesy of Samantha Pell/Washington Post:

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Connor Sheary
Marcus Johansson – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie
Sonny Milano – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Anthony Mantha
Nicolas Aube-Kubel – Lars Eller – Garnet Hathaway

Erik Gustafsson – Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin – Martin Fehervary

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Extras: Alexander Alexeyev, Aliaksei Protas

Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said that Charlie Lindgren will get the start in goal tonight against the Blue Jackets.

Injured: John Carlson (out indefinitely); Connor Brown (indefinite); Carl Hagelin (indefinite); Nic Dowd (indefinite); Tom Wilson (day-to-day).

WAITING FOR COLUMBUS

The Capitals visit the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at Nationwide Arena for the third of four meetings between the teams this season. Washington is 2-0-0 against Columbus this season, winning both games by a combined score of 7-2.

Johnny Gaudreau and Boone Jenner are on the ice for #CBJ morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. Washington at Nationwide Arena. They missed yesterday with maintenance days.

— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 31, 2023

The Capitals are 30-13-1-5 all-time vs. Columbus and 6-1-0 in their last seven games against the Blue Jackets dating back to the 2019-20 season. [MORE HERE]

STAT OF THE DAY – SHOOT!

Today’s stat of the day revisits the Capitals shots for and shots against per game averages so far this season. The following graph plots the difference between the two averages (SF/GM-avg. – SA/GM-avg.) over the course of the season. [Click to enlarge].

While the Capitals continue to deal with injuries to key players (Tom Wilson, John Carlson  and Nic Dowd), the team’s average actually continues to improve, although it took a hit in the last game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[The statistics used in this post are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and the NoVa Caps Advanced Analytics Model (NCAAM). If you’d like to learn more about the statistical terms used in this post, please check out our NHL Analytics Glossary]

DOWN ON THE FARM

Connor McMichael and Garrett Pilon hooked-up for a sweet tally over the weekend. McMichael made a nice, long-distance cross-ice feed to Pilon who immediately hammered it home for the goal.

Connor McMichael with a nice cross-ice feed to Garrett Pilon, who finishes. Bears lead 4-0.#HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/XfnVQoCN3X

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 29, 2023

Shane Gersich scored his third goal of the season over the weekend. It was Gersich’s 100th career AHL point.

Shane Gersich with his 3rd goal of the season, gives the Bears a 2-0 lead. Vinny Iorio had the nice centering pass. It’s Gersich’s 100th AHL point. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/aIrVA3ktY1

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 29, 2023

Bogdan Trineyev continued his scoring on Tuesday, providing the primary assist on this whacky goal.

Bogdan Trineyev with a nice centering pass and primary assist on Dynamo’s first goal. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/qRIril7v4q

— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) January 31, 2023

Finally, happy 21st birthday to Capitals forward prospect Oskar Magnusson.

SHAVINGS

• The NHL Network discusses the play of Capitals backup goaltender Charlie Lindgren:

“You can point to him for having rescued their season in a lot of ways.”

Charlie Lindgren has made the most of his opportunity in Washington. #ALLCAPS@KevinWeekes | @EJHradek_NHL | @Capitals | #NHLNow pic.twitter.com/BALoibwZW2

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) January 31, 2023’

• And finally, Capitals players answer the question: “if I wasn’t a hockey player, I would be…”

The boys ponder life if they weren’t playing hockey#ALLCAPS | @SociosUSA pic.twitter.com/EPmEZnBRIB

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 31, 2023