The Washington Capitals held their gameday morning skate Saturday morning at 10:30AM at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. They host the Florida Panthers tonight at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7PM.
MORNING SKATE
Alex Ovechkin (upper body) didn’t skate this morning and will be a game-time decision tonight vs. Florida.
Anthony Mantha (lower body) is out. He’s officially day to day.
Charlie Lindgren was the first goaltender off the ice at morning skate. He’ll be the expected starter tonight against Florida.
STAT OF THE DAY
Today’s stat of the day returns to the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. The Capitals chances of winning the draft lottery have now risen from 3% to 5% in recent games.
So, what is a relatable real-world example of a 5% chance at something? The Capitals have a better chance of selecting Connor Bedard than a person has being called to “come on down” at the Price Is Right (1 in 36 or 2.7%).
DOWN ON THE FARM
Hendrix Lapierre scored his 12th goal of the season Friday night against the Springfield Thunderbirds (with a little help from the T-Birds).
Hendrix Lapierre with his 12 of the season (with a little help from T-Birds). Bears lead 1-0. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/gGC3Cs21m3
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 7, 2023
Garrett Pilon is starting to warmup just before the AHL postseason begins. He scored his 10th of the season last night, which started with the steal of a pass.
Nice play by Garrett Pilon. Picks the pass and roofs one for 2-1 Bears lead. #HBH #ALLCAPS #Peels pic.twitter.com/N4bJ7cPaq2
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) April 7, 2023
Jake Karabela seems to have found his scoring touch again, as he notched his third goal of the playoffs on Friday night. The Storm won game 5 by a score of 3-1, closing the gap to the Sarnia Sting in the series, 3-2.
JAKE KARABELA WITH THE DEKE!#StormCity | @Capitals pic.twitter.com/VMbpr9mXxG
— Guelph Storm (@Storm_City) April 8, 2023
Reminder, tonight is the NCAA final between Ryan Chesley and the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Chase Clark and the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
Ivan Miroshnichenko and Omskie Yastreby beat CKA-1946 by a score of 4-3 in overtime today, and as a result, take the second round series 3-1.
SHAVINGS
- Adam Fantilli Wins 2023 Hobey Baker Award [Pro Hockey Rumors]
- Flyers assistant coach: ‘It looks like some guys in here don’t even care’ [Yahoo Sports]
- From Lightning and Leafs to Arizona, NHL’s spending gap widens to record level [Daily Faceoff]
That’s just swell!
We could be down to 17 skaters again, even with a callup.
Seriously, I figure Ovi must be hurt. He has not scored a goal since March 25 for a four game drought.
What’s the news on Oshie and TVR? Are they both still out, I presume?
Good news about Karabela. Let’s hope he’s a late round gem. PsstRoss Mahoney, drafting from the OHL is a good thing
I didn’t realize that MHL series were best of 5
Novafyre may be correct about Laviolette :
“Once the regular season ends next week, don’t expect an immediate decision on Peter Laviolette’s future in Washington. In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun noted that the belief is that the Capitals will take their time to fully assess the situation while also allowing the veteran bench boss to have some time to ponder his future. The 58-year-old has spent the last three seasons with the Caps and his contract is set to expire so he’ll need to decide if he wants to stick around or see what might be available with another team.”
https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2023/04/metropolitan-notes-laviolette-ovechkin-mantha-attard.html#ref=home
I have felt that management just doesn’t see it the way we do. They’ll re-sign Lavi and fire the water boy to show that they are doing something positive.
I’m still not sure that Lavi wants to come back though. He has always had a bit of a hound dog look, but he just doesn’t look or sound like he’s having fun. But, could he get the $$$ elsewhere? If money is most important to him, I could still see him returning.
This certainly hasn’t and couldn’t have been a fun tenure with the Caps for Lavi. I’ll be surprised if he wants to come back and have another shot at it with so much uncertainty for next season’s roster.
Funny, read in the WaPo comments, someone mentioned Lavi should go full Ned Braden to close out this crazy and miserable season! Dark humor ? Yes, but its’ been that kind of season…
From The Hockey News – “The South Carolina Stingrays are the team of the week as the ECHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals and Hershey Bears. Sitting first in the South Division with a 40-21-4-1 record, South Carolina looks poised to make a legitimate run at the Kelly Cup. Goaltender Tyler Wall, signed to an AHL contract with Hershey, leads a pack of intriguing prospects as he boasts a .908 SP and a 19-10-1 record.”
https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/IslukJeW
I think they just go through each team, pander to their fan bases to build followings and clicks.
You might be right, but I enjoyed listening to their podcast detailing why they make their choices. Justifications didn’t include pandering.
#TankHardForBedard