SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate
Caps face offensive juggernaut in Leafs, Mantha cleared for contact, Schultz is game time decision, more
Washington is seeking to end a five-game home ice losing streak, and it is also aiming to avoid its first three-game regulation losing streak in more than a year, since it dropped four straight from Feb. 1-14, 2021. The Caps' home losing skid is their longest in nearly 15 years; their last victory here was more than a month ago, on Jan. 22 against Ottawa.
"I think it all comes down to effort, to work ethic, and taking pride in having our barn be a place where other teams don't want to come and play," says Caps right wing T.J. Oshie. "I don't think we've ever had a five-game losing skid at home, at least not since I've been here. So we've got to take a little more pride in that. It starts with effort and really just the will to beat other teams in individual battles, and in turn that comes into full team play and controlling the puck a little bit more, and making it hard to come in here and get two points from us."
The Leafs hit town tonight on the heels of a 10-7 victory over the Wings in Detroit on Saturday, the first 10-goal outburst by an NHL club in more than four years. Toronto scored all 10 goals at even strength; the Leafs didn't even have a single power-play opportunity in that game.
"As far as 5-on-5, I think we just try to be consistent in the defensive zone, help each other out, lots of talk," says Caps center Nic Dowd. "The biggest thing that comes from these transition teams - these younger teams, fast teams - is if you turn a puck over above the tops of the circles at any spot, you're going to have a tough time keeping the puck out of your net. So I think a little bit of puck management tonight will go a long way."
To their credit, the Caps have played reasonably well defensively despite losing their last two games; they held the Rangers to 21 shots in a 4-1 loss on Thursday and limited Philadelphia to 22 shots on net in a 2-1 loss on Saturday. The Flyers had only eight shots on net over the final 40 minutes of that game, and the Caps twice held them without a shot for over 10 minutes during that span.
"Confidence is so key in this League," says Caps defenseman John Carlson. "From an offensive perspective for them, I don't think they can feel much better than they do right now coming in. I hate to say 'back to the basics,' but I think that's what's led us to a lot of our successes, being able to control the front of our net and being able to deter teams from getting a lot of quality looks. That's kind of a full scale approach, but I think mentally and focus-wise, that's got to be our priority tonight."
Feel A Whole Lot Better -Ahead of their Monday morning skate in preparation for tonight's home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Capitals recalled goaltender Vitek Vanecek from his one-game AHL conditioning stint. For the first time since Feb. 1, Vanecek will be in uniform tonight and available for duty, though Ilya Samsonov will start for the Caps tonight against the Leafs.
When the Caps took the ice for their morning skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, Anthony Mantha was in a full contact sweater and able to be a full practice participant for the first time since Nov. 4, the night he suffered a shoulder injury in a game at Florida, an injury that required surgery and a lengthy rehab. Mantha won't play tonight, but he has made good progress to date, and he would appear to be on track to return to the lineup fairly soon.
"Today is the first day that he is cleared to go out there and compete and battle a little bit, so it's day one," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of Mantha. "But it's certainly good. We talk about getting guys out on the ice and in a colored [non-contact] jersey, and then out of the colored jersey and into the battles. So there is a progression that goes with it, and I believe that today is the first day that he is cleared for that."
Justin Schultz missed Saturday's game against Philadelphia with a lower body injury, but he did participate in Monday's morning skate. If Schultz is able to suit up and play tonight against Toronto, the Caps would have only one player - Mantha - sitting out because of injury. Tonight marks the Capitals' 55th game of the season, and Washington has yet to have its full complement of players healthy and available for any of its games. But if Mantha ends up being the only player sitting out for the Caps tonight, it would be the first time in over four months that they were missing just one player.
Washington went into its Oct. 27 home game against Detroit - its seventh game of the season - with just one player (Nicklas Backstrom) unavailable to play because of injury.
In The Nets - With Vanecek unavailable for the last four weeks, Samsonov has been Washington's mail carrier in the crease, starting all but one game since his partner went down on the first day of this month. Tonight, Samsonov appears in his 10th straight game and he starts his seventh straight contest; both are career highs.
In starting each of the Caps' last six games, Samsonov has fashioned a 3-3-0 record along with a 2.71 GAA and a .911 save pct. Most recently, he allowed two goals in the first period but blanked the Flyers the rest of the way in Saturday's 2-1 loss in Philadelphia. Washington has allowed multiple goals in the first period in nine of its 54 games to date, but four of those instances occurred in February, with three of them coming in Samsonov's starts.
Lifetime against the Leafs, he is 1-0-0 with a 3.00 GAA and a .906 save pct. in one career appearance.
For Toronto, Petr Mrazek gets the start tonight against the Capitals. He will be making his 11th start and 13th appearance of the season; in his first season with the Leafs he has primarily served as a backup to Jack Campbell. After Campbell yielded five goals on 25 shots in Toronto's 10-7 victory over the Red Wings in Detroit on Saturday, the Leafs took the rare step of removing a healthy goaltender in a game in which they owned the lead. Mrazek came on in relief and was credited with the victory after stopping six of eight pucks sent in his direction in just over 15 minutes of relief work.
Mrazek has eight wins on the season, with six of them coming since Jan. 22. He is 5-2-0 in his last seven starts. Lifetime against the Capitals, he is 4-7-2 with a shutout, a 2.72 GAA and a .910 save pct. in 13 appearances.
All Lined Up - Here's how we believe the Caps and the Maple Leafs might look on Monday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
73-Sheary, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
24-McMichael, 20-Eller, 91-Snively
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-Schultz
Goaltenders
30-Samsonov
41-Vanecek
Extras
6-Kempny
10-Sprong
52-Irwin
Injured/Out
39-Mantha (upper body, indefinite)
TORONTO
Forwards
58-Bunting, 34-Mathews, 16-Marner
25-Kase, 91-Tavares, 88-Nylander
65-Mikhayev, 64-Kampf, 15-Kerfoot
89-Robertson, 19-Spezza, 24-Simmonds
Defensemen
44-Rielly, 37-Liljegren
78-Brodie, 3-Holl
38-Sandin, 46-Lyubushkin
Goaltenders
36-Campbell
35-Mrazek
Extras
43-Clifford
Injured/Out
8-Muzzin (concussion)
23-Dermott (illness)
47-Engvall (illness)
