SKATE SHAVINGS -- News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Wake Up Your Saints -The Caps are in the Midwest for a set of back-to-back games this weekend, facing the Blues in St. Louis on Friday and the Wild in St. Paul on Saturday. While the Caps' overall team health is better right now - in terms of the number of players unavailable for tonight's game with the Blues - they're still not where they hoped they would be as they head back into action after an unscheduled four-day break resulting from the postponement of a game in Montreal this past Tuesday.

When both Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie returned to the ice for practice the first time in five days on Thursday, there was hope that one or both might be able to play in one or both of this weekend's set of back-to-back games in St. Louis and Minnesota, respectively.
But neither player made the trip west following Thursday's practice, and on Friday the Caps placed both veteran forwards on injured reserve. Because both players were placed on IR retroactive to their last game action (Dec. 31 in Detroit), both would be able to play on Monday against Boston when the Caps return home, assuming they're cleared to do so between now and then. Both Backstrom and Oshie are expected to get some skating in at MedStar Capitals Iceplex while the Caps are on the road this weekend.
"They were on the ice [Thursday]," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Just based on the past that they've had - Backy for the whole season and Osh the past couple of months - we really felt that it was important that they're working on their skating and their conditioning and their game.
"It's just been an awful lot of time that they've missed, so we want to put them in a position that sets up for success, and they can feel good about where they're at with their game. Hopefully, when we get home, at some point we'll see them back with the group."
Even with those two forwards out of the lineup, rookie forward Connor McMichael appears to be a healthy scratch tonight in St. Louis. McMichael was a scratch in each of the first two games of the season, but had played in 32 straight since, totaling nine points (four goals, five assists) while averaging 10:59 per night in ice time.
"He's a young player and guys are pushing each other for ice time," says Laviolette. "And when you get that opportunity, you've got to go in and make the most of it. With a back-to-back game, I don't see him sitting too long. But decisions have to be made.
"It's not that somebody has to play poorly, it's that somebody else might outplay them and decisions are going to get made. And so you want to make sure that you're pushing every day in practice and in every game to make sure that you're remaining in the lineup.
"I've had conversations with all our young players, just to talk about things ratcheting up at the end of the year, the fact that Backstrom was going to be coming back, and we were going to start getting guys back from protocol and hopefully start to get healthy. It hasn't happened yet, but that's the plan, and with that there are going to be decisions that have to be made.
"I think when you're around and you're a veteran player, you understand that a little bit more. But young players need to understand that too, and conversations have been had with all the players to make sure that we've got some numbers here and you're going to have to push to stay in the lineup."
On the positive side of the coin, defenseman Martin Fehervary will return to the lineup tonight after an absence of three games while he was in the COVID-19 protocol. Fehervary last played on Dec. 19 against Los Angeles.
With Fehervary back in the lineup, Washington once again has its group of top six defensemen intact, the first game in which it has had that luxury since that Dec. 19 game against the Kings.
"That's great that we're through that with the [defense]," says Laviolette. "They were the real strength I think, in the first 25 games where it pretty much was consistent with the pairs night after night, and they played really well together. Those guys are still going through some things because they've been out, but they're trying to ramp back up to speed as well."
Short Side Of Nothing - From the time he debuted in the NHL late in the 2013-14 season through the end of last season, Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov played in 520 games for the Capitals and he logged a total of 8,831:28 in ice time. A tiny sliver of that time on ice - 30 minutes and 34 seconds of it, spread over eight seasons - came while Washington was shorthanded.
Kuznetsov managed to score a pair of shorthanded goals during that time; his first NHL goal in March of 2014 was shorthanded, and he added another shorty in 2017-18, a season in which he logged a total of 4:35 in shorthanded ice time.
This season, Kuznetsov has seen regular shorthanded duty for the first time in his NHL career. In 31 games in this single season of 2021-22, Kuznetsov has now amassed more shorthanded ice time (31:17) than he had for his entire 520-game career coming into the campaign. Impressively, at this point of the season, he is one of only two forwards in the NHL with more than 10 minutes of shorthanded ice time who has been on the ice for more goals for than goals against while his team is down a man.
Kuznetsov has been on the ice for five Washington goals - all five of the Caps' shorthanded goals this season - and he has been on the ice for only four power-play goals against. No other forward in the NHL has been on the ice for as many as five shorthanded goals, and Kuznetsov also has two shorthanded assists this season, so he has had a hand in the manufacturing of four of Washington's five shorthanded strikes.
"He's been really good this year, at 5-on-5, the power play and certainly on the penalty kill," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Oftentimes I think that when you get top-end power play guys, they understand how to break down penalty kills. And so when you put them on the penalty kill, they understand how to break down the power play, or what the powerplay might be thinking, or where they might be looking. And he gets an opportunity to use his speed and skill and to create up there, and he's been able to do that."
Philadelphia's Joel Farabee (two shorthanded goals for, one power-play goal against) is the only other NHL forward with a plus goal differential among those who have logged more than 10 minutes worth of shorthanded time this season.
In The Nets - Ilya Samsonov gets the start for Washington on Friday night in St. Louis. He will be backed up tonight by Zach Fucale, who was moved onto the active roster from the taxi squad on Friday afternoon ahead of the game. Vitek Vanecek came off of COVID-19 protocol earlier in the week, but like Backstrom and Oshie, he is now battling a non-COVID-19 illness.
Samsonov has helped the Caps to at least a point in each of his last four starts (2-0-2) and he comes into Friday's game on the heels of a 33-save effort last Sunday afternoon against New Jersey in a 4-3 overtime loss.
Samsonov will be making his first career start against St. Louis.
For the Blues, we are expecting to see Ville Husso in the nets tonight. Husso was St. Louis's fourth-round choice (94th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft. After four seasons as a North America pro, Husso debuted with the Blues last season, getting into 17 games.
Husso has been a backup to Jordan Binnington, getting into just seven games thus far this season and posting a 3-2-1 mark with a shutout, a 2.46 GAA and a .927 save pct.
Husso will be making his first career start against the Capitals.
All Lined Up - Here's how we believe the Capitals and the Blues might look on Friday night in the Loo:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 21-Hathaway
73-Sheary, 20-Eller, 43-Wilson
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 49-Leason
10-Sprong, 23-Sgarbossa, 59-Protas
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-Schultz
Goaltenders
30-Samsonov
60-Fucale
Extras/Taxi Squad
6-Kempny
24-McMichael
38-Cholowski
52-Irwin
Injured/Out
19-Backstrom (non-COVID illness)
41-Vanecek (non-COVID illness)
39-Mantha (upper body, indefinite)
77-Oshie (non-COVID illness)
ST. LOUIS
Forwards
49-Barbashev, 90-O'Reilly, 89-Buchnevich
10-Schenn, 18-Thomas, 25-Kyrou
20-Saad, 70-Sundqvist, 57-Perron
22-Brown, 21-Bozak, 37-Kostin
Defensemen
77-Mikkola, 55-Parayko
47-Krug, 72-Faulk
6-Scandella, 41-Bortuzzo
Goaltenders
50-Binnington
35-Husso
Extras
Injured
46-Walman (COVID-19 protocol)
48-Perunovich (COVID-19 protocol)
91-Tarasenko (COVID-19 protocol)