SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Goin' To Dallas - Lugging a two-game regulation losing streak for the first time in nearly 10 months, the Caps are in Dallas on Friday night to take on the Stars. Dallas is opening a six-game homestand in the immediate wake of a four-game road trip in which it swept all four games in a span of six nights, taking two sets of back-to-back games.

While the Stars will look to guard against a letdown in their first game back home after a long trip, the Caps can't and won't concern themselves with any of that. Their focus is on turning more of their scoring chances into goals and getting back in the win column.
"We've got to just dial in on what we're doing here," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Forget about road trips or whether we're on the road or at home, we've got to win a hockey game. So that's what we're trying to focus on is the eight o'clock start tonight - which is a little bit later - and just getting ready for that."
Both teams will need to be mindful of a later-than-usual start time of 8 p.m. locally, an adjustment to accommodate the length pregame ceremony on the occasion of the Stars retiring Sergei Zubov's sweater No. 56 here in Dallas, where the Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman toiled brilliantly for 12 of his 16 seasons in the NHL.
Ex-Caps goaltender Braden Holtby will get the start for the Stars, and he will face his longtime Washington teammates for the first time since his departure from the District at the close of the 2019-20 season.
As an interesting sidelight to the Zubov ceremony, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin is just one assist away from moving past Zubov and into third place all-time in helpers among Russian players in NHL history. Sergei Fedorov tops the list with 696 assists, and Evgeni Malkin is just behind him at 686. Zubov and Ovevhkin are both sitting on 619 career assists.
Digging Out - In 11 games this month, the Capital have managed to score only 24 goals. Their average of 2.18 tallies per tilt in January ranks 30th in the League and has led to a 3-6-2 mark for the month, going into tonight's contest with the Stars.
Washington is averaging more than 30 shots on net this month, and players and coaches alike believe the team is still generating enough high-quality scoring chances to win games, it's just that the pucks aren't going in like they were earlier in the season.
In suffering consecutive regulation losses for the first time since early April, the Caps scored a total of just one goal in the two games, both at home. They lost 1-0 to Vegas on Monday and 4-1 to San Jose two nights later.
"I can speak to my game and the situations I was in," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson, "and I felt like I probably could have had like three or four [more] goals. Maybe the puck didn't come or maybe the puck bounced the wrong way. Hockey's a funny game. It's kind of a game of mistakes. And when you get an opportunity to take advantage of one, you've got to put it in the back of the net.
"But you know there's two or three times [Wednesday] night where I was like, 'Oh, that puck could have come or could have gone in.' Sometimes you can be forcing things, and maybe just that one little play is all you need. So it's tough on everyone, and everyone's pretty focused on trying to right the ship. But I think if we make our plays and we're confident in our group, we've definitely got the guys to do it. Everyone puts an emphasis on just working and getting the puck to the net and all that, but we've got to support each other a little more and make plays, and it'll be good."
Washington has put 30 or more pucks on opposing goaltenders in nine of its 11 games this month, but it has also had five games in which it has had more shots that missed and/or were blocked than it managed to get on net.
"I think there's a big difference between how you're playing when you're getting Grade A chances versus when you're not," says Caps right wing Garnet Hathaway. "There are times when the goals come in bunches, where every shot feels like it's going in and you're always in the right place at the right time. And there's moments when you can be in the right place and a goalie makes a save, and that can compound but I think you have to fall back on knowing you're getting those opportunities - which I think we are - especially as a line, I thought we were doing really well with that. And just consistently having offensive pressure.
"I think that's a big thing because we start in the [defensive] zone a lot. So being able to move through the zones and get into the [offensive] zone to then hem other teams' top lines in their zone is a big part of our role. And I think continuing to go to the net and continuing to get those chances is when they will start going in. It's just a matter of time as to when, there are not any more questions other than that."
For tonight, the Caps will install rookie Joe Snively into the lineup for the second time this season, and they'll slide Connor McMichael back in as well, after he sat out Wednesday's game against San Jose. Snively made his NHL debut on Dec. 19 against Los Angeles, earning an assist and playing well.
With 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in just 35 games at AHL Hershey, Snively is tied for third in the AHL's scoring race.
"He's been playing really well down there; fast, competitive, putting up points," says Laviolette of Snively. "And he's earned a trip up here, so we'll see how he does."
Hello Old Friend - On this very night 10 years ago, Holtby was in the net for the AHL Hershey Bears, facing the Admirals in Norfolk. He stopped 38 of 40 shots to help the Bears to victory that night. Holtby spent that season sharing the Hershey nets with Dany Sabourin while Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun shared the crease in Washington. Holtby, a mere lad of 22 at the time, entered that season with a 10-2-2 NHL record fashioned in 14 games (12 starts) during the previous 2010-11 season.
It wasn't until the tail end of the '11-12 regular season that Holtby was able to work his way into Washington's goaltending picture; he made his first appearance of the season a couple weeks after that aforementioned win in Norfolk, and after absorbing a 5-0 home ice loss to the Sharks, was returned to Hershey. But with Vokoun ailing in mid-March and the Caps' playoff hopes very much up in the air, he was again summoned to Washington.
When Neuvirth also went down with injury in the Caps' penultimate regular season game of '11-12, the Caps were forced to cast their lot with Holtby as they headed into the postseason as the seventh seed in the East, pitted against the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins in the first round. Holtby memorably outdueled Tim Thomas in a tight and scintillating first-round series, and he came within a whisker of doing the same against the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist in the second round. His first child - a son, Ben - was born during the series against New York, as Holtby's family began while his career began its ascent.
Ten years after and now two wins shy of 300 for his NHL career, Holtby is set to face his former Caps teammates for the first time tonight. After Friday's morning skate, Stars GM Jim Nill presented Holtby with a silver stick and a Tiffany crystal plaque from the NHL to commemorate the goaltender's 500th NHL game, on Nov. 30 against Carolina.
After the presentation, Holtby reflected briefly on his days in the District.
"Just the people," replies Holtby, asked what stands out to him from his time in Washington. "Hockey is obviously what we do, but there's a lot outside of it - relationships that you make and people that helped you in different ways that you're forever grateful for. I remember [ex-caps goalie coach] Mitch Korn used to always tell me, 'It's a game of people, not pucks,' and it kind of stuck with me. That's where my family grew up, it's home for me, and so it's pretty special to see those people again and to catch up a bit."
In The Nets - Vitek Vanecek will be in net for Washington tonight. Vanecek has played both frequently and well of late; he will be making his sixth start in the Capitals' last eight games tonight. IN his last five starts, Vanecek is 3-2-0 with a shutout, a 2.00 GAA and a .929 save pct.
Vanecek will be making his first career start against the Stars in Friday's game.
Holtby makes his first career start against the Capitals tonight. He has earned at least two career wins against every team in the League except Washington and Seattle, the only two teams he has yet to face. He has earned more wins over Boston and New Jersey (18 each) than against any other club in the circuit.
"It's strange, obviously," says Holtby of facing the Caps. "It's been a while. But it's great to see some old faces and good friends. Obviously, I haven't seen them a lot in the past year and a half or whatever it's been, so it's going to be strange. It's going to be very odd tonight, but exciting at the same time to experience something new, I guess."
Asked whether it felt weird yet or if the day felt normal, Holtby responded thusly:
"No, it feels weird. It feels really weird, especially seeing them over there. I spent a lot of time on that side, so it's definitely different. But a lot of people go through it; it's just that tonight you've got to find a way to block that out and play a quality hockey game. But it's definitely not your normal game in the regular season."
"I'm sure he's excited to play tonight," says Stars coach Rick Bowness. "He's got a tremendous amount of respect in both locker rooms. Our guys have a tremendous amount of respect for Braden, and they're going to go out there and do their best to win the game for him."
All Lined Up -Here's how we believe the Caps and the Stars might look on Friday night in Dallas:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
73-Sheary, 19-Backstrom, 10-Sprong
24-McMichael, 20-Eller, 91-Snively
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Schultz
52-Irwin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
30-Samsonov
Extras/Taxi Squad
31-Shepard
38-Cholowski
49-Leason
59-Protas
Injured/Out
3-Jensen (upper body, week-to-week)
6-Kempny (COVID-19 protocol)
39-Mantha (upper body, indefinite)
77-Oshie (upper body, day-to-day)
DALLAS
Forwards
21-Robertson, 24-Hintz, 16-Pavelski
14-Benn, 91-Seguin, 34-Gurianov
25-Kiviranta, 40-Peterson, 47-Radulov
64-Kero, 12-Faksa, 11-Glendening
Defensemen
20-Suter, 4-Heiskanen
23-Lindell, 3-Klingberg
5-Sekera, 2-Hakanpaa
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
29-Oettinger
Extras/Taxi Squad
2-Hakanpaa
13-Damiani
25-Kiviranta
35-Khudobin
44-Hanley
45-Polak
Injured/Out
18-Raffl (lower body)
30-Bishop (knee)