SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 2/25

Better Things -Washington finishes off a five-game homestand tonight, facing the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second consecutive contest and for the sixth time in the Caps' first 19 games this season.

Although the Caps have led in all five previous games against the Pens this season and have pulled at least a point in four of the five games, they've managed only one win (1-1-3) against their longtime rivals.
In the first four meetings between these two teams this season, the 5-on-5 shot attempts ranged from even to plus/minus three either way. But in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win over Washington, the Pens held a decided 57-45 advantage in shot attempts at 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com.
"I thought [Tuesday night] it leaned [the Penguins'] way," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I thought the previous four were pretty competitive games. But it was tough. I thought our guys competed out there. There are not a lot of chances.
"For me, it's about the speed. It's about the compete level. Those two things are really important when you play this team, and those are the things that we've talked about."
Washington's defensive-zone game has come together well of late; the Caps have permitted 2.4 goals against per game in their last five contests after yielding an unseemly average of 3.77 goals against in their first 13 games this season. But Washington's offensive output has dipped by roughly a goal a game during that span.
"I think a lot of it right now is holding the puck in the offensive zone," says Washington winger Garnet Hathaway. "I think we've been playing well defensively, and against a team like Pittsburgh that is really good at holding onto the pucks and who use their bodies well, it's then taking the puck to the net.

"I think it's that extra step right now, because I think we're doing a good job of getting possession. Now it's [a matter of] holding onto it and it's either taking it to the net or it's either taking it to the net or finding an odd-man situation coming out of the corner, beating a guy to the net. That's where we have to take it to the next step and I think that's where the offense will come - beating guys to rebounds, getting more puck possession inside the zone, and then bring it to the net to do something with it."
After tonight's tilt at Capital One Arena, the Caps will take to the road for five straight games and eight of their next nine, which will bring us to the exact midpoint of their 2020-21 regular season schedule.
Shoot Out The Lights - Caps left wing Jakub Vrana has five goals in 17 games this season, the most recent of which was the game-winner in the Caps' lone victory over the Pens this season, on Feb. 16 in Pittsburgh. On that tally, Vrana converted a brilliant backhand feed through traffic from T.J. Oshie, drilling a one-timer home from the weak side on his off-wing.
Vrana took some time to talk about getting in position to score that goal against the Pens last week, and offered some insight on his pregame preparation as well.
"I think it's all about timing and it depends on if you're a left-handed or right-handed shot," says Vrana. "You've just got to find a lane. I knew Osh was looking at me and I know he's going to try and get a pass to me, so I was trying to find a lane where he can actually make that pass. And then obviously the pass execution was unbelievable - a backhand pass through like four guys, and right on my stick.
"If that happened on the other side, I just need to adjust my stick. I have to maybe slow it down to find the lane - a good passing lane - but other than that it's just that I have it on my side, my shooting side."
Some goal scorers tend toward streakiness at times, and we wondered whether Vrana can feel or sense hot and/or cold streaks when they're coming on.
"To be honest, I'm having a chances every game, pretty much," says Vrana. "I don't really look at the analysis and stuff, but I think every game I have at least one or two goal-scoring chances. And you know some days they are going in, and then some days they don't. And also it depends on how quality the chances are as well, but lately I've been getting pretty good chances.
"Some recent games I had a really good couple of quality chances, and I hit the post there. It makes me look like I didn't because I didn't score, but I still had the chances. Many other games - like in Pittsburgh - I had chances to score, but you know it's all about just putting it into the net, to be honest with you."
What about when the chances are coming, but the shots aren't going in? Does the radar need to be recalibrated then?
"I'm trying to figure that out sometimes," says Vrana. "I'm working on it in practice and watching video. I see where the shots came from, and where did I shoot them, and I obviously study the goalies before the games, too.
"For example, you see a goaltender on video and see some of his weaknesses, then you go out there to shoot in practice, and you shoot there; just shoot a couple pucks and then in the game you automatically shoot there; you don't even think about it. Just get the pass and you shoot there, because you have done it for like a couple days before, you've done it a few times and now it's automatically in your head. You just get it there, you studied him, you know his weakness, and it goes in.
"Sometimes it's like that, but obviously these goaltenders, they're amazing. They're getting better, and it feels like they're getting better every year. Sometimes, when I see [Vitek Vanecek] make some saves, I'm like, 'Holy man, that's insane.' Those saves are really hot. Some of them are greasy. You have to be really sharp, and your shots have to be executed well."
My Rival -Over the course of a decade and a half of playing with the Boston Bruins, Caps defenseman Zdeno Chara got a healthy yearly dose of the Bruins' big rivalry games against teams such as Montreal and Toronto. After Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh - his fifth time facing the Pens as a member of the Caps - Chara took some time to speak on the unique schedule this season that provides so many more of these rivalry games than in a normal season.
"I think that with a different schedule this year," says Chara, "You're going to see a lot more of
these similar types of games where teams are going to be playing each other seven or eight times. And when teams meet for the fifth, sixth, seventh times, I think the competitive level goes up, the bottle level goes up and the teams are going to be really battling each other hard for every point and for every inch of the ice.
"I think that's should be elevating each team's level of their game and of the play and, you know, I think we can all see the hockey in general being a lot more similar to playoff type of hockey, way before the playoffs will even start. And I think that's great. I think it's great that you're going to see these types of games where teams are really battling each other for position and points, and every division is a little bit different.
"In some divisions, you see teams kind of gain a big lead of points quite early. So maybe they could be in a little bit more comfortable spot, I would say. I think in our division, it's a grind and I think that every team can beat any team on any other night. You have just got to be ready to battle, right from the first puck drop until the end every night, and with that smaller amount of games, if you're not ready, you're going to pay for it."

In The Nets -Vitek Vanecek will be in net for Washington on Thursday night against the Pens, his 16th starting assignment in the Caps' first 19 games this season. He stopped
Tonight's game marks Vanecek's fifth start this season against the Penguins, accounting for nearly a third of his workload this season and for the rookie's NHL career.
"The first time it's always new, something new," says Vanecek. "But now I know them a little bit, so it's better for me. But they have a good team, so I know I have to be ready for all 60 minutes and do all that I can."
Vanecek made 34 stops in Tuesday's overtime loss to the Pens, the third time in 15 starts this season he has made 34 or more stops in a game; he also did so earlier this season in home games vs. Buffalo (Jan. 24) and Boston (Jan. 30). As a rookie for the Caps last season, Ilya Samsonov only had two starts in his 26 outings in which he had to make 34 or more saves.
Vanecek has stopped 102 of the last 110 shots he has faced for a .927 save pct. in that span, and he is 1-1-2 with a 3.22 GAA and a .900 save pct. in his four starts vs. the Penguins.
Tristan Jarry gets the net for the Pens once again, making his sixth straight start. Lifetime against the Caps, he is 2-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and a .916 save pct.
All Lined Up -Here's how we expect the Caps and Penguins to look on Thursday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 73-Sheary
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 43-Wilson
14-Panik, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
4-Dillon, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Schultz
33-Chara, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
31-Anderson
Out
6-Kempny (Achilles' tendon)
Extras
10-Sprong
34-Siegenthaler
57-van Riemsdyk
Taxi Squad
1-Copley (G)
16-Maillet (F)
28-Carr (F)
30-Samsonov (G)
64-Pinho (F)
PITTSBURGH
Forwards
59-Guentzel, 87-Crosby, 42-Kapanen
12-Aston-Reese, 71-Malkin, 17-Rust
7-Sceviour, 53-Blueger, 13-Tanev
10-O'Connor, 14-Jankowski, 18-Rafferty
Defensemen
73-Joseph, 58-Letang
5-Matheson, 6-Marino
28-Pettersson, 4-Ceci
Goaltenders
35-Jarry
1-DeSmith
Out
8-Dumoulin
9-Rodrigues
16-Zucker
19-McCann
50-Riikola
Extras
2-Ruhwedel
3-Weber