SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

All Of This And Nothing - For the first time in nine years, the Caps are playing games that don't mean anything to them - and sometimes don't mean anything to their opponent, either - in the standings. Between their most recent game this past Sunday against the Rangers and tonight's game against the Canadiens in Montreal, Washington was mathematically eliminated from the 2023 postseason picture. The Capitals still have five games remaining, including tonight's game in Montreal.

The Caps missed the playoffs in each of the first eight seasons of their NHL existence, and it has taken them four decades to rack up their next eight playoff misses. Washington has reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 32 of the last 40 seasons, and its longest drought over that time span was three straight seasons.
Caps' captain Alex Ovechkin will miss out on the postseason for just the fourth time in his 18 seasons with the team. It was 19 years ago today that Washington won the 20024 NHL Draft lottery, and the right to choose Ovechkin with the first overall pick that season. A total of 291 players were selected in that draft, which stretched for nine rounds in those days.
Ovechkin is one of only seven of those 291 players who were active in the NHL in 2022-23.
"Physically, I feel the same [as 10 years ago]," says Ovechkin. "But mentally, when you're not in the playoffs, it's kind of hard. These [last] five games are going to be hard mentally, because you're basically fighting for nothing. But we're still professionals, so we have to play for the fans and for you guys, so you can write something."
When Washington was last playing "meaningless" hockey at this time of year, Tom Wilson was finishing up his first season in the NHL.
"You never take for granted being able to make the playoffs and to compete for the Cup," says Wilson. "It's a huge privilege, and that's your goal every season and we've been fortunate to be pretty good at that over the last decade. It's a weird feeling in here right now; it's not fun. That's the reason you play the game, is to have a chance to do that and win a championship, and play at the end of the year.
"So, it's tough. And that being said, you take pride in pulling that jersey on over your head every night, no matter the situation or the scenario that you're in, and we've got to finish out the right way here and get to the finish line, keep building our game, and look forward to next season."
Having five games at the end of a season that don't mean anything for his team in the standings is also rare territory for Caps' coach Peter Laviolette. The last time a Laviolette-coached team was playing out the string at season's end was a decade ago, when the 2012-13 Philadelphia Flyers fell six points shy of the playoff cutline in a lockout-abbreviated 48-game schedule.
"We're all kind of working through it; I don't think it is that familiar," says Laviolette. "It's tough. But at the end of the day, guys are proud, and they want to play well, and they want to win. Given the choice to win or lose, you want to go out and win and put your best foot forward.
"I would expect that that's the mantra of our group tonight, that we go out and we go out and play a good game, and try to win a hockey game. The standings are what they are; they don't lie. And we are where we are, and we've got to get past that and go out and win a hockey game."
The Canadiens are in that same predicament as well, and this season marks just the third time in Washington's NHL existence that both the Caps and the Canadiens are not in the playoffs. The previous instances were in 1998-99 and 2006-07. Montreal has never missed the playoffs in more than three straight seasons in a glorious and illustrious NHL history that dates back to the birth of the League in 1917. The Habs had a three-season dry spell beginning in 1919-20 and running through 1921-22 and another that stretched from 1998-99 through 2000-01.
When the Capitals came into the NHL in 1974-75, they were in the same division as the Canadiens, the Norris Division. A season later, in 1975-76, the Canadiens started a run of four straight Stanley Cup titles. At the end of that run, the Caps moved to the Patrick Division - one that made more sense geographically - and their fellow Patrick Division denizen New York Islanders began a string of four straight Stanley Cup titles.
For eight straight seasons, Washington found itself in the same division as the eventual Cup winner.
In The Nets - Darcy Kuemper gets the start for Washington tonight, his 54th start of the season. He started a single-season career high 57 games for Colorado last season.
Lifetime against the Canadiens, Kuemper is 4-2-0 in seven appearances (six starts) with a 2.18 GAA and a .915 save pct.
With veterans Carey Price and Jake Allen both on the sidelines for Montreal, Sam Montembeault is the expected starter for the Canadiens tonight. Montembeault and Allen have split Montreal's total of 30 wins straight down the middle, and the 15 victories is a career high for Montembeault, the former Florida draftee (third round, 77th overall, 2015 NHL Draft).
Lifetime against Washington, Montembeault is 0-2-0 with a 4.40 GAA and an .859 save pct. in three appearances (two starts).
All Lined Up - Here's how the Caps and the Canadiens might look on Thursday night from Montreal:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 19-Backstrom, 59-Protas
39-Mantha, 92-Kuznetsov, 16-Smith
73-Sheary, 26-Dowd, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
38-Sandin, 3-Jensen
52-Irwin, 27-Alexeyev
Goaltenders
35-Kuemper
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
None
Injured/out
28-Brown (lower body)
57-van Riemsdyk (upper body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
77-Oshie (upper body)
MONTREAL
Forwards
49-Harvey-Pinard, 14-Suzuki, 40-Armia
25-Gurianov, 27-Drouin, 11-Gallagher
68-Hoffman, 71-Evans, 32-R. Pitlick
55-Pezzetta, 67-Tierney, 56-Ylonen
Defensemen
8-Matheson, 52-Barron
44-Edmundson, 6-Wideman
64-Scheuneman, 26-Kovacevic
Goaltenders
30-Primeau
35-Montembeault
Healthy Extras
57-Farrell
Injured/out
17-Anderson (ankle)
20-Slafkovsky (lower body)
22-Caufield (shoulder)
21-Guhle (ankle)
28-Dvorak (knee)
31-Price (knee)
34-Allen (lower body)
41-Byron (hip)
49-Harvey-Pinard (lower body)
54-Harris (lower body)
58-Savard (upper body)
60-Belzile (leg)
72-Xhekaj (shoulder)
77-Dach (upper body)
91-Monahan (foot)