SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 10/3

Banner Up - For the first time in franchise history, the Caps will raise a Stanley Cup banner to the rafters of Capital One Arena on Wednesday night. Immediately afterwards, the Caps will launch their defense of the Cup crown with the 2018-19 regular season opener against the Boston Bruins.
For the Caps, the task will be to take the emotion, the energy and the spark they get from the pregame ceremony and then channel it into the 60 minutes of hockey thereafter.

"The big thing is to make sure you find that happy medium of enjoying it," says Caps goalie Braden Holtby, "but still be in focus for the puck drop. I think it's going to help us that we've been through it before on the other side, and we've had success in that role before, so we know that that team is going to come out prepared. We know Boston is going to be ready to go.
"As long as we know that, as long as once the ceremony is over we have a group commitment to turning the page and focusing on the game, we'll be fine."
The Caps provided the opposition for the Blackhawks' banner raising on opening night of the 2013-14 season and for the Penguins' banner raising on opening night of 2016-17.
"It's obviously going to be an awesome experience for everybody," says Caps defenseman Brooks Orpik. "And as fun as it is, you've got to turn the page pretty quickly. I've been on the other side of it and I know Boston coming in will be very motivated to ruin our night. So you've got to enjoy it, but we have a really tough start here with Boston and Pittsburgh back-to-back, so we've got to be able to enjoy it but like I said, be able to turn the page pretty quickly."
Bench Boss -Caps coach Todd Reirden begins his NHL head coaching career tonight with the game against the Bruins. Just as players dream of reaching the NHL and playing in their first games in the league, coaches dream of ascending to the top of their profession as well, and coaching that first regular season game behind an NHL bench.
But precious few NHL bench bosses make their debuts minutes after their team raises a Stanley Cup banner, as Reirden will do tonight.
"That I can say I didn't anticipate," says Reirden. "When you start getting into this line of work, you start thinking about one day reaching the pinnacle and the top of the game in terms of as a coach. It's a day that my family and I have put a lot of time and effort [into], and I've gotten a ton of support from them to help a day like today happen.
"But I'm actually a little bit more excited that it's the banner raising, because it's not about me anyway as a coach, it's about our team. And to me, this is the ultimate team honor is to be raising that banner tonight. I couldn't be any prouder than I am to be standing behind the bench tonight with those guys, having gone through what we went through last year and having the role that I did last year. It's going to be an amazing night and that definitely moves ahead of anything that I'm thinking about with my first game. It's going to be on the thoughts of us raising that banner tonight, not just for our organization, but for the fans in the whole DC area."

New Blood - At noon on Tuesday, the Caps claimed winger Dmitrij Jaskin off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. Jaskin arrived in the area late Tuesday night and took the ice for Wednesday's morning skate with his new teammates, but Reirden isn't exactly sure when we can expect to see Jaskin making his Caps debut.
"He came in late [Tuesday] night, and we talked to him a little bit this morning before our meetings," says Reirden. "He got a taste for how we prepare for an opponent and then we went through our morning skate. Now he is going through some video as we speak right now. We just need to get him ready, and he won't play tonight. But he will be in warm-up and a part of things so he can be a part of all of our meetings and everything and start to hear our terminology and be an option for us [Thursday in Pittsburgh]."
Although Jaskin can be an option for the Caps' lineup on Thursday against the Penguins, a more likely scenario has him making his debut with Washington next week, after he has participated in a handful of practices. After facing the Pens, the Caps are slated to practice on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday before they take the ice next Wednesday against Vegas.
"For me, it's about setting the guy up for success," says Reirden. "He is a guy who was obviously a really highly touted prospect a few years ago, and he has a real high end skill level that hasn't been totally tapped into yet. We feel he is still a developing prospect, and someone that for me, it's about putting him into a situation where they can succeed. It is definitely strategic when I put him in, to allow him to be up and running, especially given the quick turnaround on back-to-backs."

When The Whip Comes Down - Caps right wing Tom Wilson has been handed a 20-game suspension from the NHL's Department of Player Safety. Wilson's suspension was his fourth in just over a calendar year, and it came in the wake of his high hit on Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in the Caps' preseason finale on Sunday.
Wilson, who signed a six-year contract extension at an annual salary cap hit of $5,166,667, is suspended without pay and will forfeit roughly $1.26 million in salary as a result of the suspension. During the life of his suspension, the entirety of his salary will count toward Washington's salary cap total.
Three of Wilson's four suspensions were incurred in preseason games against the Blues, two last fall and one this year. Prior to those suspensions, he had never drawn a suspension in his NHL career.
Barring a successful appeal, Wilson will be ineligible to return to the Caps' lineup until Nov. 21 when the Caps host the Chicago Blackhawks. The suspension is the second longest in Washington's franchise history; Dale Hunter was handed a 21-game suspension at the start of the 1993-94 season for a hit on the Islanders' Pierre Turgeon while the latter was celebrating a goal in the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs.
In The Nets -Holtby gets the net for the Caps for Wednesday's opener against the Bruins. During the regular season, Holtby owns a 14-2-0 career mark against Boston, along with three shutouts, a 1.96 GAA and a .940 save pct.
Washington has won a dozen straight games against the Bruins, the longest winning streak the Caps have ever managed against the B's. Holtby has been in the nets for 10 of those 12 wins, posting a 1.68 GAA and a .946 save pct. along the way.
With another game looming in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Reirden has yet to decide who gets the net for the Pens' home opener.
Tuukka Rask will be in goal for the Bruins on Wednesday. Starting his 12th season with the Bruins, Rask owns a 238-137-53 career mark to go along with 41 shutouts, a 2.26 GAA and a .922 save pct.
Rask's numbers would be even better if he never had to face the Caps. Lifetime against Washington, Rask is 1-10-5 with a shutout, a 3.07 GAA and an .889 save pct.
All Lined Up - Here is how we expect the Capitals and the Bruins to look for Wednesday night's season opener at Capital One:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 10-Connolly
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
65-Burakovsky, 20-Eller, 18-Stephenson
79-Walker, 26-Dowd, 25-Smith-Pelly
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
29-Djoos, 74-Carlson
44-Orpik, 22-Bowey
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
1-Copley
Injuries
6-Kempny (upper body, day-to-day)
43-Wilson (league suspension, 20 games)
72-Boyd (lower body, week-to-week)
Scratches
23-Jaskin
28-Megna
BOSTON
Forwards
63-Marchand, 37-Bergeron, 88-Pastrnak
74-DeBrusk, 46-Krejci, 43-Heinen
17-Donato, 52-Kuraly, 42-Backes
20-Nordstrom, 55-Acciari, 14-Wagner
Defensemen
33-Chara, 73-McAvoy
27-Moore, 25-Carlo
48-Grzelcyk, 86-Miller
Goaltenders
40-Rask
41-Halak
Injuries
47-Krug (ankle, injured reserve)

Scratches
10-Bjork
44-Kampfer
58-Vaakanainen