SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 12/11

Quick Stop At Home -For the last two months, the Caps have had actual homestands and road trips of two or more games, and they've fared quite well in the standings over that span, going 15-8-2. Now they'll head into a stretch where one-game road trips and one-game homestands will be a bit more prevalent; the Caps will play seven of their next 10-road games as one-game journeys and will have six one-game "homestands" between now and the end of January.

Detroit makes its way to the District on Tuesday to supply the opposition for the first of those one-game stays at home, and the second game in a stretch of nine straight against Eastern Conference foes.
Washington will play the equivalent of roughly a quarter of a season between now and the league's All-Star break in late January, a stretch that leads into the Capitals' bye week for 2018-19 as well. Even with a four-day break for the holidays later this month, the Caps will play 21 games in 44 nights starting with Tuesday's game against the Red Wings. Eleven of those 21 games will be played at Capital One Arena, and five of Washington's remaining eight sets of back-to-back games will be played during the next 44 nights.

Double Sevens Come Eleven -Washington has been without winger T.J. Oshie for the last 11 games, but it will welcome him back into the lineup tonight with open arms. The Caps have rolled up an impressive 9-2-0 record in Oshie's absence, and they've played several of those games without Evgeny Kuznetsov and/or Tom Wilson as well.
Late in a Nov. 14 game in Winnipeg, Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey upended Oshie and slammed him to the ice, where the winger's head took the brunt of the impact. Oshie has a history of concussions; he missed six games last December after taking a head hit from San Jose's Joe Thornton. Upon returning to the lineup from that injury, it took Oshie a while to get back on track. Oshie scored a goal in his second game back in the lineup, but it was one of just two goals he scored over a span of 35 games after returning.
"It's my fifth time around," says Oshie of his previous experience with concussions. "You expect the game to feel a little fast when you get back. You expect your game shape to not be there- the reads and the maximal effort that you get in battles and backchecking or forechecking situations. It's just hard to simulate that when you're out there skating around cones. That's the hardest part. Other than, just try to get my game to where it was before this all happened."
Oshie's game was in a very good place before this all happened.
He scored nine goals and rolled up 14 points in just 18 games before the injury, and even after missing 11 games - or nearly 40 percent of Washington's games to date - Oshie still ranks third on the team with eight even-strength goals. Only Alex Ovechkin (15) and Jakub Vrana (nine) have scored more at even strength than has Oshie this season.
With Oshie back in the lineup, the Caps have their top power play unit back on the ice as well. Washington went 6-for-32 (18.8%) with the extra-man during Oshie's 11-game absence from the lineup, ranking 12th in the league over that span.
Washington had its full complement of forwards available for just two of its previous 29 games, and it has not had all of its players available for any games this season. The Caps are still without right wing Tom Wilson (upper body) and defenseman Brooks Orpik (knee), but they are on track to get Wilson back this weekend.
"I think we've done a great job of managing it," says Caps coach Todd Reirden, "of finding out about some of our young guys, some of our internal depth, and having guys really step up and take advantage of the opportunity when they were given it."

This One Goes To Eleven - Ovechkin is in the midst of an 11-game scoring streak (10 goals, 16 points) coming into Tuesday's game. The streak is tied with Colorado's Mikko Rantanen, who has also scored in 11 straight contests (five goals and 19 points) and it is one shy of the Blue Jackets' Cam Atkinson, whose 12-game streak died at the Capitals' hands on Saturday night in Columbus.
Ovechkin is two games shy of matching the longest scoring streak of his career, a 13-game run from Jan. 1-Feb. 1, 2007, midway through his sophomore season in the league. The Caps didn't have a very good team in those days; they missed the playoffs by a wide margin in 2006-07, and managed just a 5-8-0 record during the life of Ovechkin's hot spell.
In The Nets - Braden Holtby blanked the Blue Jackets on 28 shots on Saturday night in Columbus, earning his second shutout of the season and the 34th of his career while also halting a personal two-game slide. Even with that recent two-game hiccup, Holtby is 6-2-0 with a shutout in his last eight starts, and he has a 2.22 GAA and a .930 save pct. over that span.
Lifetime against the Red Wings, Holtby is 10-2-2 with a shutout, a 2.11 save pct. and a .924 save pct. He defeated Detroit on Nov. 23 at Capital One Arena, stopping 31 of 32 shots in a 3-1 Washington win.
Detroit will be playing for the second time in as many nights on Tuesday; the Wings took down the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night in Motown, 3-1. Jimmy Howard was in goal for the Wings for that victory, and he did not have an easy night of it. The 34-year-old Howard made 42 saves to earn his 10th victory of the season, and his third in his last four starts.
Over the last three seasons - including the current one - Howard has made only two appearances and just one start on zero days of rest, so we're expecting to see Jonathan Bernier in net for the Wings here tonight.
Bernier was the losing netminder in Detroit's previous visit to the District this season. He stopped 17 of 20 shots in a 3-1 loss here on Nov. 23. Bernier had won three of his previous four starts entering that game last month, but he comes into Tuesday's contest with just one win in his previous five appearances. He has permitted three or more goals in four of those last five outings as well.
Lifetime against Washington, Bernier is 4-5-0 in nine appearances with a 2.83 GAA and an .894 save pct.

All Lined Up - This is how we believe the Caps and the Red Wings will look when they meet on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
13-Vrana, 92-Kuznetsov, 10-Connolly
18-Stephenson, 20-Eller, 25-Smith-Pelly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 72-Boyd
Defensemen
6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
29-Djoos, 22-Bowey
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
1-Copley
Injuries
43-Wilson (upper body)
44-Orpik (lower body)
Scratches
34-Siegenthaler
65-Burakovsky
DETROIT
Forwards
14-Nyquist, 71-Larkin, 8-Abdelkader
72-Athanasiou, 51-Nielsen, 26-Vanek
59-Bertuzzi, 41-Glendening, 27-Rasmussen
70-Ehn, 61-de la Rose, 42-Frk
Defensemen
55-Kronwall, 25-Green
83-Daley, 21-Cholowski
52-Ericsson, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
45-Bernier
35-Howard
Injuries
39-Mantha (hand)
43-Helm (hand)
65-DeKeyser (hand)
Scratches
22-Megan
28-Witkowski