SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 1/15

Wrong Road To Nashville - Following their first Stanley Cup championship last June, the Caps endured a bit of a fitful start to the 2018-19 season, but nothing that lingered long enough to qualify as the "hangover" we hear so much about annually with regard to each season's champs.

Washington navigated its way through the 2018 portion of the '18-19 season without losing as many as three straight at any point, but as the Capitals wake up on Tuesday morning in Nashville to finish a set of back-to-back games against a formidable Predators team, they're looking to avoid a second three-game slide in less than three weeks.
The Caps look a little weary and sluggish of late, and they could probably use a break. They'll get one soon, but they've got to power through five more games first, and they're also in need of some standings points.

"It's reality; it's a long season," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "I think for every team it's a little bit different in how it shows its face. Obviously we're dealing with the success we had last year and how long we played into the summer. So sometimes it happens at different points. It's stuff I've researched in the offseason to be prepared for such days as these.
"But for us, it's about trying to get better and to get back to our game, and not necessarily use that as an excuse but more as something that can challenge us to be as consistent as we've been. Being on top of the Metro Division, we've gone through a lot of adversity this year, and to be where we are is a major credit to our guys."
The Caps have been hitting a sour note at five-on-five of late, and they will be hard pressed to get well against the Preds, the league's stingiest team. Nashville permits an average of 2.57 goals per game, and the Preadators have surrendered 77 five-on-five goals this season, tied for third fewest in the league.
Earlier this season, Washington had a 14-game run in which it scored three or more goals, its longest such streak in nearly an decade. The Caps went 12-2-0 during that span, from Nov. 16-Dec. 15. In 13 games since that streak was halted, the Caps have scored more than three goals just three times, getting there with an empty-netter on one occasion. Predictably, the results have cooled to 7-4-2 in those 13 games.
Expect some lineup changes tonight, but we won't know exactly what they'll be until pre-game warmups.
"Expect to see some different things tonight," says Reirden, "but we're just going to keep that in house right now. I think we've got to get to the offensive zone a little bit more; I think we're a little bit on the perimeter for me, the last few games. That has really limited our opportunities against some of the teams.
"So we've got to spend more time in the offensive zone and we've got to be less on the perimeter, are some things we talked about earlier today. I think that is something that is doable with our group, and something that we've got to commit to tonight."
Fortunately for the Caps, they've continued to play well in their own end, for the most part. Washington has limited opponents to two or fewer goals in nine of its last 14 games. But three of the Caps' last six losses have come by 2-1 scores, two of them in overtime. With an extra goal here or there, the Capitals might have an extra standings point or two as well. Washington has gone two games now without registering a five-on-five goal.
As Reirden alluded to, they are not spending enough time with the puck in the attack zone of late.
"Maybe not," said Caps center Nicklas Backstrom after Monday's 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. "We have to get to the front of the net a little bit more and get more shots. We're used to crashing the net a little bit more. Everyone has got to take responsibility, and if you get in those dirty areas you're going to get goals. So I think that's an area we've got to be better in.
"And defensively too, I feel like everything starts there. We've got to have a better first pass from the [defensive] zone, I think. Everyone has got to help out. That is an area we can do a lot better in. I think the big part is, when you're struggling a little bit at five-on-five, you've just got to work harder, keep it simple, and go from there."
That's a prescient point there by Backstrom. Washington hasn't been as crisp with its zone exits of late, and that has led to more time than necessary in its own zone.
"If you really want to draw back to wins and losses a lot of times on particular nights," says Reirden, "and when you remove special teams from the equation, which is a large indicator of success, then you can really look at which team breaks the puck out better. That was the case our last few games, the opposition broke the puck out better than we did. So they were able to spend less time in the [defensive] zone, and in turn they were able to forecheck us and keep us from exiting the zone cleanly.
"I think that's been a deciding factor, and one that for us has been a strength. I think in the last handful of games, the opposition has done a little bit better than us at both from a forechecking and a breakout perspective."
Nashville Cats - The Preds are back home after a season-long six-game road trip, starting a three-game homestand against the Caps. Nashville played seven of its last eight games on the road, a stretch that started with the Preds' 6-3 come-from-behind win over the Caps on Dec. 31. That victory halted Nashville's 10-game road losing streak (0-8-2) and its six-game overall slide (0-5-1).
Nashville got right on its recent road journey, earning points in five of the six games on the trip. Starting with its win over the Caps in Washington on Dec. 31, Nashville is 5-1-2 in its last eight games, and its only regulation loss during that stretch game in the final game of the six-game trip, on Sunday in Carolina, when the Preds fell 6-3 to the Hurricanes.
In The Nets - Pheonix Copley started for Washington on Monday night against the Blues, so normally Braden Holtby would get the start tonight in the second of back-to-backs. But Holtby may still be dealing with the after effects of Saturday's injury, when Columbus winger Cam Atkinson got his stick blade inside Holtby's mask and injured the netminder's eye. Reirden was uncharacteristically cagey when it came to his lineup for tonight's game, terming everything a game-time decision.
Copley is 10-3-3 on the season with a 2.65 GAA and a .914 save pct. His loss on Monday to St. Louis was his first regulation setback in exactly two months, ending a prosperous 7-0-2 run.
Nashville will go with Juuse Saros in net against the Caps. On the season, Saros is 10-5-1 with a 2.26 GAA and a .909 save pct. Of late, Saros has been splendid. He is 3-0-1 in his last five appearances (three starts), and has allowed a grand total of three goals during that span. Saros has an 0.71 GAA and a .975 save pct. over that stretch.

All Lined Up - Without benefit of a morning skate, we're not sure how the Caps will look when they take to the ice tonight, but here's a wild guess and a look at how we expect the Predators to look when the two teams collide on Tuesday night in Music City:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
65-Burakovsky, 20-Eller, 10-Connolly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 72-Boyd
Defensemen
6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 34-Siegenthaler
Goaltenders
1-Copley
70-Holtby
Injuries
29-Djoos (lower body)
Scratches
18-Stephenson
22-Bowey
25-Smith-Pelly
NASHVILLE
Forwards
9-Forsberg, 92-Johansen, 33-Arvidsson
22-Fiala, 10-Sissons, 15-Smith
19-Jarnkrok, 13-Bonino, 51-Watson
38-Hartman, 89-Gaudreau, 23-Grimaldi
Defensemen
59-Josi, 76-Subban
14-Ekholm, 4-Ellis
5-Hamhuis, 7-Weber
Goaltenders
35-Rinne
74-Saros
Injuries
8-Turris (lower body)
20-Salomaki (upper body)
Scratches
2-Bitetto
36-Rinaldo
52-Irwin