SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 11/19

What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been - A week ago today, the Caps departed the District for a four-game weeklong road trip against a quartet of formidable foes, and tonight in Montreal, they'll finish the trip against the Canadiens.

Washington got right wing Tom Wilson back from a league suspension earlier than planned at the start of the trip in Minnesota, but it lost a trio of top performers as it moved on to Winnipeg. In Colorado, the Caps turned a in a strong effort while playing without Braden Holtby, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie, downing the Avs 3-2 on Nicklas Backstrom's overtime power-play goal.
Now they're in Montreal for the finale of the journey, and they'll have Holtby back in the lineup. The Caps have taken two of three games on the trip to date, so tonight's game against the Habs is the difference between a winning trip and a break-even trip.
"This road trip, we've played pretty well," says Wilson. "We've played the hockey that we like to play. But that being said, this is a big opportunity to finish on a strong foot. It's a game that, if you lose it, you go home and you're like, 'Ah, the road trip was okay.' But if you win it, it's an important two points."

Washington turned in a pedestrian 2-2-1 homestand just ahead of this trip, and they're even up for the month of November, too, at 4-4-1. Monday's game puts the Caps a quarter of the way through the season, and they'd like to get out of the win one/lose one routine.
"We've got to be focused, we've got to finish strong here," says Wilson. "It's been a week here, but we've got to make sure that we're focused in on the last one, and we complete the road trip against a team that's playing very well in a tough building. The guys have been playing well. We've put together some pretty good 60-minute games on this road trip, and we're going to need another one."
The Caps started the month with a Nov. 1 visit to Montreal, a game in which they let a late 4-3 lead slip through their collective fingers in a 6-4 loss. That one still stings a bit.
"I think we're getting to that time of year where it's important to start putting some in the bank," says Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen. "The further you go, the less moral victories really matter, so we want to continue the trend of playing a little better as we go here, and racking up points at the same time. It's an opportunity to have a really good trip with three wins on the road - three out of four - so it's a big one. Last time in here, too, we let one slip away. So we should be motivated."

Block That Shot - Nine games into the month of November, the Caps have combined to block 154 shots this month, one shy of Columbus (155), which leads the NHL over that span. That's an about face from the first month of the season, when Washington combined to block 134 shots in 10 October games, ranking 30th among the league's 31 teams.
Defensemen Dmitry Orlov (22) and Michal Kempny (20) lead the Caps in blocked shots this month, and Kempny missed a game, too. Among the forwards, the trio of Devante Smith-Pelly, Chandler Stephenson and Jakub Vrana leads Washington with eight blocked shots in November.
"I think that's one of the things that we wanted to tighten up," says Smith-Pelly, "our commitment to getting in lanes and getting on front of shots, and helping the goalies out. It's definitely not a coincidence that it improved. That's part of team defense, sacrificing and getting in front of some shots."
Washington is averaging roughly four more blocked shots per game this month, and it has blocked 17-20 opposition shots in each of the first three games of the current road trip.
"Ideally you don't have to block so many," says Niskanen, "but it's a part of the game, especially with the way we play in our defensive zone. We collapse and try to protect the slot a little bit more, so we're going to give up some point shots. That's something that we got really good at, at the end of last year. We were locking them down below the hash marks. The by-product of that is you're going to give up some space up top. You're going to need commitment to either box people out or get in front of a few. And when we're doing it well, it's hard to play against.
"It can be frustrating for other teams' top forwards, because there is not a lot of space for them and all they're trying to do is to get tips. But that style is a little tough to sustain and to get by on early in the year, because you need to eat a lot of pucks for 82 games. But it's coming. We've had to bear down and get a few wins here, so guys have been real committed and have been playing a little bit harder. That's coming."

Thirteen Years Ago Today - Washington was in Montreal on Nov. 19, 2005, Alex Ovechkin's first regular season NHL game at Bell Centre. The Caps earned a 5-1 win that night to improve to 8-12-0 on the season, dropping the Habs to 13-5-3 in the process.
The game is more noteworthy as the contest in which longtime Caps forward Brooks Laich scored his first NHL goal, a power-play tally on Canadiens' goalie Yann Denis midway through the first period to extend Washington's lead to 3-0.
Of the combined total of 40 players who suited up for both teams that night, only Ovechkin is still active in the NHL. Tomas Plekanec played for the Habs that night 13 years ago, and he got into three games with Montreal earlier this season, but has since retired from the rigors of the NHL.
Now a Washington scout, Brian Sutherby scored a pair of goals for the Caps in that game. Brian Willsie - now a development consultant for the Colorado Avalanche and Ovechkin's first road roommate - also scored for the Capitals, as did Chris Clark. Clark is now a development coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In The Nets -Copley will be in the net for Washington again. In his last five starts, he is 4-1-0 with a 2.17 GAA and a .921 save pct. He is 3-1-0 in his last four road starts, and he has allowed exactly two goals against in each of his last four starts, including three straight on the road. He will be making his first regular season appearance against the Canadiens, but he was in goal for a September preseason contest against the Canadiens in Quebec City.
Carey Price is expected to get the net for the Canadiens. Price has won half of his 14 starts this season, going 7-4-3 with a 2.92 GAA and a .904 save pct. as he tries to rebound from a subpar 2017-18 campaign.
After surrendering four or more goals in each of his first four starts of November, Price has earned consecutive 3-2 victories in each of his last two starts, stopping 79 of 83 shots (.952 save pct.) in the process. Lifetime against the Capitals, Price is 7-13-4 with a shutout, a 3.33 GAA and an .890 save pct.
All Lined Up -Here is how we believe the Capitals and the Canadiens will look when they meet on Monday night at Bell Centre in Montreal for the finale of their four-game road trip:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 20-Eller, 43-Wilson
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 65-Burakovsky
18-Stephenson, 72-Boyd, 25-Smith-Pelly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 10-Connolly
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
6-Kempny, 2-Niskanen
29-Djoos, 22-Bowey
Goaltenders
1-Copley
70-Holtby
Injuries
44-Orpik (lower body)
77-Oshie (upper body)
92-Kuznetsov (upper body)
Scratches
34-Siegenthaler
MONTREAL
Forwards
90-Tatar, 24-Danault, 11-Gallagher
92-Drouin, 13-Domi, 65-Shaw
47-Agostino, 15-Kotkaniemi, 62-Lehtonen
20-Deslauriers, 63-Peca, 54-Hudon
Defensemen
8-Benn, 26-Petry
21-Schlemko, 58-Juulsen
28-Reilly, 53-Mete
Goaltenders
31-Price
37-Niemi
Injuries
6-Weber (lower body)
38-Scherbak (lower body)
40-Armia (knee)
41-Byron (lower body)
Scratches
27-Alzner
61-Ouellet