SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 4/8

Quick Stop - In the midst of a stretch in which they play 14 games in 26 nights, but with only three of those games at home, the busy and well-traveled Washington Capitals are making a short stop at home to host the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

The Caps have been on the road for more than a week - playing their last five games away from the District - and they'll head right back out on the road after taking on the Bruins. Thursday's game is the front end of a set of back-to-backs; the Caps head to Buffalo immediately after the game as they have a Friday night date there with the Sabres.
Sometime To Return -Wednesday was an off day for Washington, but the Caps made a roster move, placing winger Richard Panik on waivers. After Panik cleared waivers on Thursday afternoon, he was loaned to Washington's taxi squad and Daniel Carr was elevated to the main roster. Carr is expected to suit up tonight and play on the right side of a line with Jakub Vrana and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
"What will happen is there will be flexibility to do anything, whether it's a transaction to the taxi squad or not," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of the waiver move. "Richard will remain with us, he'll practice with us, he will be with us the entire time, as all players are allowed to. And so we'll manage all of the players that we have here and make lineup decisions based on that."
Carr has been on Washington's taxi squad for most of the season; he has appeared in three games, the last of which was a Feb. 7 game against Philadelphia. He collected an assist in those three games, averaging just over 10 minutes per night in ice time.
The concept of the taxi squad is a new and temporary one in the NHL, and it's basically an extension of a team's AHL roster, but the players travel with and practice with the varsity squad. What they don't do - often for long stretches of time - is play games. Hockey players want to play, and that's something Carr hasn't done for two months now.
"It's been a learning experience for sure," says the 29-year-old native of Sherwood Park, Alta. "I think it's been what you choose to make it, if that makes sense. Some of it is not easy - not playing and not knowing. But I'm pretty grateful. One thing I've worked on the last year is I've worked to change my mindset in pro hockey, and I've been a lot happier because of it. This year I'm very grateful I did that because the situations are a lot harder.
"But so much of it is out of your control. When you're on the taxi squad, all you can do is show up and show what you can do. As long as you stick to that, it makes it a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable."
Undrafted following a consistent and successful collegiate career at Union College, Carr signed as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens. He scored 24 goals for Hamilton in 2014-15, his first pro season, and he has improved upon his AHL numbers at multiple stops since, totaling 104 goals and 211 points in 238 games at that level.
Carr has also seen NHL action in each of the last six seasons, totaling 16 goals and 37 points in 114 games. With nothing left to prove at the American League level, Carr spent much of the last year doing some soul searching.
"I think like everyone in the world over the last year, you spend a lot of time in quarantine," says Carr. "So my wife and I - at the end of last season - we drove back to Canada and I spent about a month training and just kind of isolating out there. I reflected on my career and why I haven't been able to exactly establish myself in the NHL and kind of came to, 'Well, something's got to change.' That's where that came from, and I'm just excited for the opportunity tonight."
Since leaving the Montreal organization, Carr has had stints in Vegas and Nashville (under Laviolette) and now with Washington. He is hoping his lengthy taxi squad stint serves him as well as it did Philippe Maillet and Brian Pinho, two players who spent months on the Caps' taxi squad before returning to AHL Hershey and putting up better than a point a game with the Bears.
"I've played the system before," says Carr, alluding to his days in the Nashville organization. "It makes it a little easier to adjust to what's going on, and you're a lot more comfortable jumping back in.
"Even with the taxi squad, we don't just do drills all day, we play a lot of games. It gets pretty heated and pretty competitive. You saw it when Phil and Pins when down [to Hershey] and the production they had. I think a lot of that was because of how we practiced here. It wasn't just messing around. We were playing hard and I think we're all ready to play."
The Caps have been seeking a solid and consistent fit on the wing of their third line since Brett Connolly's departure following the 2018-19 season. Panik hasn't been able to nail down the spot in nearly two seasons with the team, a trade for Ilya Kovalcuk late last season didn't work out, and others have had brief trials in that slot as well.
"There is a chance for us - with a little bit of flexibility - to utilize everybody, and that's kind of what I was saying before," says Laviolette. "All players are available. Daniel has worked really hard. He is a guy that has a good skill level, and we liked him when he was in the lineup early in the year, and he's just been unavailable to us up until this point."
In The Nets -The Caps are opening the month of April with six games in nine nights, and they've been alternating starts for their two netminders since just before that stretch. That trend will continue tonight against the Bruins when Ilya Samsonov gets the crease for Washington.
In his most recent start, Samsonov stopped 35 of 39 shots in a 5-4 win over the Devils in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon. In his last 11 games (10 starts), he is 8-2-0 with a shutout, a 2.77 GAA and a .901 save pct. Lifetime against Boston, Samsonov is 0-0-0 in two brief appearances, with a 1.94 GAA and an .818 save pct.
Boston is without its netminding tandem of Tuukka Rask (upper body injury) and Jaroslav Halak (COVID-19 protocol), so it is running with a pair of rookies in the crease, Dan Vladar and Jeremy Swayman. Vladar has four games worth of NHL experience and Swayman has one, but Swayman will be getting a second look tonight against the Caps.
In his NHL debut on Tuesday night against the Flyers in Philadelphia, Swayman stopped 40 of 42 shots - including 23 of the 25 he faced in the middle period - to earn a 4-2 victory in his NHL debut.
With AHL Providence this season, Swayman was 8-1-0 with a shutout, a 1.89 GAA and a .933 save pct. This is the 22-year-old Swayman's first pro season; he spent the last three seasons tending the twine for the University of Maine.
All Lined Up - Here is how we expect the Caps and the Bruins to look on Thursday night at Capital One when Washington entertains Boston in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
73-Sheary, 19-Backstrom, 43-Wilson
13-Vrana, 92-Kuznetsov, 28-Carr
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
4-Dillon, 2-Schultz
33-Chara, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
30-Samsonov
41-Vanecek
Out
6-Kempny (Achilles' tendon)
Extras
10-Sprong
34-Siegenthaler
57-van Riemsdyk
Taxi Squad
14-Panik (F)
23-Sgarbossa (F)
40-Pilon (F)
31-Anderson (G)
BOSTON
Forwards
63-Marchand, 37-Bergeron, 12-Smith
21-Ritchie, 46-Krejci, 88-Pastrnak
74-Debrusk, 13-Coyle, 83-Kuhlman
11-Frederic, 52-Kuraly, 14-Wagner
Defensemen
48-Grzelcyk, 86-Miller
67-Zboril, 44-Kampfer
55-Lauzon, 75-Clifton
Goaltenders
80-Vladar
1-Swayman
Out
25-Carlo (upper body)
27-Moore (undisclosed)
28-Kase (upper body)
40-Rask (upper body)
41-Halak (COVID-19 protocol)
73-McAvoy (upper body)
Extras
10-Bjork
19-Senyshyn
84-Tinordi