SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me? - Injuries have been a hardcore and relentless fact of life for the Capitals for over 150 straight regular season games now. Washington has started each of the last two seasons with key performers on the sidelines with long term ailments, and by the time those players were ready to return, they had company on the team's injured reserve list, and typically plenty of it.

Combine an ongoing and seemingly never-ending spate of injuries with the departures of five regular players just ahead of the March 3 trade deadline, and the Caps' revolving door lineup has been on overdrive for the last month or so.
"I think our guys keep dealing with and adjusting with what's going on, and we try to do the same. It's next man up, and we'll be ready when that game hits [on Sunday]," says Caps' coach Peter Laviolette. "We've got to win a hockey game, and we'll put the guys on the ice that are available, whatever that is. It's been that way for a couple of years, but that's the hand we're dealt. And so whoever is on that trip and whoever is in the lineup, we need them to play great [Sunday]."
Among those not available for today's game is goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who departed Washington's Saturday afternoon practice with an upper body injury. Caps' captain Alex Ovechkin missed a game in New York against the Rangers earlier in the week, and he took a maintenance day on Saturday; he is a "game-time decision" for the Caps today, according to Laviolette.
First periods haven't been the Caps' collective jam this season; they've scored 50 goals in the first frame of their 70 games to date this season, putting them in a tie for 28th place League-wide. Washington has surrendered 62 goals in the first period this season, tied for 17th in the circuit. But in their eight March games, the Caps have been outscored 11-6 in the first period, and they've been dented for a goal against on the first shot on net of each of their last three games, putting them down a goal before the first television timeout.
No one in the Caps' room is offering any excuses, but it seems likely that the constant state of flux in the roster and the lineup has to have an effect on the team's sluggish starts of late. Washington is 4-3-1 this month, but it has had to come from behind to earn each of its last three victories.
"It's no fault of Darcy, who gave up the first goal on the first shot, that doesn't help," says Laviolette. "It's just making sure that we're playing good defense and doing the right things. Some of the first periods, we haven't gotten a goal. I think that we've done the right things but can't get a goal and find ourselves down 1-0, and we've got to come back in the game from there.
"But getting through that first five minutes, getting to the first [television] timeout, playing good defense, not giving up [much is important]. I think in the first shift or the second shift last game, we gave up a big chance, and you can't do that. We've got to keep the rush in front of us and just play good defense. And with that, the game will unwind. But it's getting through those first five or six minutes, getting to the first timeout clean and then playing it from there."
Keep Marchin' -Caps' center Dylan Strome had a six-game point streak (three goals, seven assists) snapped on Friday night against St. Louis. The streak matched the longest of his NHL career; he had a pair of six-point streaks during his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Interestingly, both of Strome's previous six-game point streaks were achieved in the month of March as well. Both of them came last season when he had one early in the month and one at the end of March.
"Usually when it gets down to this time of year, teams are tightening up and you're playing for your lives pretty much every night," says Strome. "[With Chicago] last year, we were kind of out of it, and teams were fighting for position and for playoff spots and you want to play spoiler. And now we're in the position where we're fighting for it and we're still right there, and we're five points out.
"And when it comes down to those moments, you want to be successful and you want to be there for your team and help your team."
With 50 points (19 goals, 31 assists) in just 54 career games in March, Strome has done that. March is his best month from a career standpoint, but maybe it's not all about the stretch run and the playoff drive.
"I've also got a lot of birthdays in March," he says. "My birthday, my daughter's, my dog's, and my mother-in-law's. So lots of birthdays in March."
In The Nets - Kuemper has started nine of Washington's last 10 games and has played quite well over that stretch. But he departed the Caps' Saturday practice session early with an upper body injury, prompting a Saturday afternoon roster move to recall Zach Fucale from AHL Hershey. Fucale arrived in Minnesota in time to back up Charlie Lindgren, who starts for the second time in the Caps' last three games this afternoon in St. Paul.
Lindgren, a Minnesota native from nearby Lakeville, about 30 miles south of St. Paul, will face the Wild for the second time this season and the third time in his career. He enters Sunday's game on the heels of a gritty performance in a 5-4 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday in Washington, a game in which the Caps were down two goals on three separate occasions before rallying to win in the skills competition. Lindgren picked up his 13th victory of the season with a 23-save performance.
In his two career starts against Minnesota, Lindgren is 0-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA and a .909 save pct.
Minnesota dropped a 5-2 decision to the Boston Bruins here on Saturday afternoon with Filip Gustavsson between the pipes. That means the Caps are likely to see veteran and future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury this afternoon. Fleury is just 21 games shy of reaching 1,000 for his NHL career, and he ranks fourth all-time among netminders in that category and third all-time with 542 career victories.
Lifetime against Washington, Fleury is 26-14-2 with four shutouts a 2.65 GAA and a .911 save pct. in 44 appearances (43 starts) against the Capitals.
All Lined Up - Here's how the Caps and Wild might look on Sunday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 73-Sheary
77-Oshie, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 19-Backstrom, 16-Smith
59-Protas, 26-Dowd, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 27-Alexeyev
52-Irwin, 18-Carlsson
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
60-Fucale
Healthy Extras
39-Mantha
Injured/out
3-Jensen (upper body)
28-Brown (lower body)
35-Kuemper (upper body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
74-Carlson (upper body)
MINNESOTA
Forwards
74-Walker, 38-Hartman, 36-Zuccarello
90-Johansson, 14-Erkisson Ek, 12-Boldy
13-Steel, 89-Gaudreau, 70-Sundqvist
15-Shaw, 26-Dewar, 75-Reaves
Defensemen
3-Klingberg, 46-Spurgeon
33-Goligoski, 24-Dumba
4-Merrill, 2-Addison
Goaltenders
29-Fleury
32-Gustavsson
Healthy Extras
9-Pitlick
43-Rosen
59-Alexandrov
75-Tucker
Injured/out
5-Middleton (illness)
17-Foligno (lower body)
21-Duhaime (head)
25-Brodin (lower body)
28-Nyquist (shoulder)
97-Kaprizov (lower body)