Beauty Of The Road - Washington just finished its second lengthy stretch of home games this season, a five-game homestand. In late January, the Caps played six straight games on home ice, so as they embark on this upcoming five-game journey, their schedule to date has been heavily skewed toward home games. Washington has played a dozen times at home but its total of seven road games is among the lowest in the league.
SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 2/27
The Caps have been a good road team for several years now, so a road heavy patch of scheduling isn't intimidating to them in any way.
"Being on the road, we don't mind that," says Washington winger Jakub Vrana. "We're a pretty good road team. Obviously, it's big games coming up here for us. But yeah, it's going to be a long road trip. We've just got to be prepared mentally and physically for that."
Keep The Devil Down - New Jersey is not among the league's most dangerous offensive outfits; the Devils rank 21st in the NHL with an average of 2.73 goals per game. The Devils' power play also ranks in the bottom third of the League, and New Jersey has generated just 26 goals in 15 games at 5-on-5.
But as the Caps learned last Sunday in Washington, the youth and speed of the Devils makes them a force to be reckoned with. They're more than capable of using their wheels to create odd-man opportunities and they're not to be taken lightly.
"The first eight minutes, they were quick and they threw pucks on the net," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I don't think it was a completely overwhelming response by New Jersey or a lack [of the same] from us, but it certainly was in their favor there's no question about that. There were a couple of good scoring chances right off the bat that they had.
"Oftentimes you talk about things and try to learn from the past. They've got a young team; our team is a little bit more of a veteran team. We've just got to get to the realization that the puck is dropping pretty quick here - at one o'clock in the afternoon - and we've got to be ready to play. With a veteran team, you try to talk about things and discuss things. There is no magic potion being passed around the room to make sure we are ready to go at one o'clock. We've got to mentally make a note of it and then take charge of our actions."
Nine of the players expected to be in New Jersey's lineup today were either first- or second-round picks of the Devils, so the team is prominently featuring a lot of homegrown talent, including each of their first-round picks from 2015-19, a group of five players led by Jack Hughes (first overall in 2019) and recently anointed team captain Nico Hischier (first overall in 2017).
"It's a pretty big weapon to have guys that can skate and are fast," says Caps defenseman Nick Jensen. "And a team that plays fast is play hard to play against. A young, high energy, fast-skating team can be hard to play against, so we've got to be able to match their speed. And at the same time, we want to hold them up with physicality. I think that is something that's going to be really big against that team, so we've got to make sure we're physical against them."
In The Nets -- Vitek Vanecek gets the net for the 17th time in 20 games for the Caps this season. Ilya Samonsov started two of the first three games of the season for Washington before going on the League's "unavailable due to COVID protocol" list, and Craig Anderson started last Sunday against the Devils in D.C. Aside from that, it's been all Vanecek for the Caps thus far.
The 25-year-old Czech netminder has handled the heavy workload well.
"I think he is in good shape," says Laviolette of Vanecek. "I think he came to camp in good shape. It can be a lot of a young goaltender, but young also depends on the numbers; he is not 18, and I think that's part of it, too. Young players that you see slide into the lineup at the forward position or the defense position at 18, there is still a learning curve there. But he has been around, he has taken a lot of games in the American Hockey League and he has been a terrific goaltender in the AHL. He has gotten an opportunity, and certainly he has made the most of it.
"You look for a response to what's going on, and to this point there might be a game or two where he might look back and say, 'I could have had this one or I could have had that one.' But for the most part and at the start of this season - and we're approaching probably the one-third marker or more than that now - he has done a good job. I've said all along, he has given us an opportunity to win hockey games, and we've been able to do that in front of him."
Today's game marks Vanecek's first career start against New Jersey. Vanecek is 8-4-3 on the season with a 2.86 GAA and a .909 save pct. In his last five games (3-1-1), Vanecek has a .928 save pct.
For New Jersey, we're expecting to see Mackenzie Blackwood in goal on Saturday. Blackwood started each of New Jersey's first three games of the season before being sidelined for nearly a month because of COVID. Since returning, he has started five of the Devils' last six games.
On the season, Blackwood is 5-2-1 with a 2.34 GAA and a .932 save pct. He has yet to permit more than three goals against in any start in 2020-21. Lifetime against the Capitals, Blackwood is 1-3-0 with a 3.43 GAA and an .890 save pct. in four appearances.
All Lined Up - Here's how we expect the Caps and Devils to look on Saturday afternoon in Newark:
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)
NEW JERSEY
Forwards
37-Zacha, 13-Hischier, 63-Bratt
11-Johnsson, 86-Hughes, 21-Palmieiri
17-Sharangovich, 19-Zajac, 97-Gusev
44-Wood, 20-McLeod, 14-Bastian
Defensemen
24-Smith, 28-Severson
70-Kulikov, 76-Subban
22-Murray, 45-Vatanen
Goaltenders
29-Blackwood
47-Dell
Out
None
Extras
8-Butcher
41-Wedgewood
