SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 8/9

Round And Round - Sunday's game between the Capitals and the Bruins marks the conclusion of the Eastern Conference round robin, and the contest will determine two of the East's first-round playoff matchups. The winner of Sunday's contest draws the New York Islanders in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs while the loser will go up against the Carolina Hurricanes when the playoffs get underway this week.

Both Washington and Boston are winless in the round robin to date, though the Caps claimed a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Lightning in their first game round-robin game on Monday. Both coaches are looking for improvement from their respective squads with the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs now just two or three days away.

After coming back from a two-goal deficit to force overtime against Tampa Bay, the Caps put forth a lackluster effort in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday.

"I think we took a step back last game," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "And now we need to get back to the direction we were headed going into that prior match. We've got to play on our toes, pressure a lot more, be skating, and I think our compete and work ethic needs to continue to be at a level that you need to have if you're going to have playoff success."

Neither the Caps nor the Bruins have had a lead on the scoreboard at any point of the round robin to date.

"I feel like we're trending in the right direction," says Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "I see energy in practice now the last couple of days. I think that's just a little more clarity in our situation than [Friday] night; it's either the Islanders or Carolina [in the first round]. There is a team to start thinking about, players to start to dislike. And that's part of what gets the juices flowing.

"So I think you'll see more energy [Sunday], but you could see pockets of the game for both teams where it's like, 'Hey, the real stuff starts Tuesday or Wednesday, so we've got to be a little bit careful.' Hopefully it's not for long stretches, and only the odd shift here or there. I still think you'll see some of that built in or baked into the game [Sunday] from both teams at times."

Reirden knows what he is looking for in Sunday's final tune-up before the playoffs.

"For me, we've got to be skating," says the Caps' bench boss. "We've got to have more pressure, and then we've got to have an attack mindset when we have the opposition out of structure."

Changes - Both sides are expected to make some alterations to their lineups from previous games. Washington has played without Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson throughout the week, and they didn't have Lars Eller in the lineup against the Flyers. Nicklas Backstrom didn't practice with the team on Friday. Reirden gave updates on all three players on Sunday morning.

"John Carlson will not play today," says Reirden. "Nick Backstrom will be a game-time decision. Obviously Lars Eller is back in Toronto, and then we're just abiding by the NHL guidelines for when we can get him back on the ice."

If Backstrom is unable to go, the Caps would likely install Brian Pinho or Phil Maillet into the lineup in his stead. Both Pinho and Maillet would be making their NHL debut in the event they were to suit up on Sunday.

Filling in for Carlson against the Lightning, Radko Gudas was fine. But he struggled against Philly on Thursday, and the Caps are likely to take a look at rookie blueline Martin Fehervary on Sunday. The 21-year-old Fehervary was the Caps' second-round (46th overall) choice in the 2018 NHL Draft, and he skated in six regular season games with Washington in 2019-20.

Playing without Carlson and Eller and potentially Backstrom leaves the Caps without three key cogs to their Stanley Cup team of two years ago, and those absences make it difficult to get a read on the team as a whole, particularly on special teams.

"Coming into this," begins Reirden, "the whole idea of playing hockey at this time of the year after four months off, you knew there were going to be some injuries, there were going to be some things going on. We knew we needed to expect the unexpected, and then people need to take advantage of those situations when they get in them.

"We'll put players in some different spots today on both special teams, and we'll see how they do. Eventually we're going to put people in situations that give us the best chance to win this afternoon, and then going into round one, game one, for us to get off on the right foot there."

Cassidy laid out Boston's planned changes on Saturday, and the expected Bruins lineup is detailed below.

In The Nets - For the third time in as many games during this week's round robin, Braden Holtby draws the starting assignment in goal for Washington. During the course of his career, Holtby has had Boston's number, compiling a career record of 18-4-0 with four shutouts, a 1.98 GAA and a .939 save pct. against the Bruins.

Sunday marks Holtby's first postseason action against the B's since April 25, 2012 when he backstopped the Caps to a 2-1 win over the then-defending Stanley Cup champs in Boston. That was Holtby's first-ever Stanley Cup playoff series.

For Boston, Tuukka Rask will get the start on Sunday against the Caps. Because Rask has been the No. 1 netminder for the Bruins throughout most of Holtby's run as the main man in the crease for Washington, his career mark against the Caps is a mirror of Holtby's strong record against Boston.

Lifetime against the Caps, Rask is 3-11-5 with two shutouts, a 3.10 GAA and an .892 save pct.

"The goalie plan is Tuukka will start," says Cassidy, "and it's our intention to play him the whole game. I guess obviously there is still a third seed at stake, but we want to make sure he is healthy going into Game 1. So we may evaluate that after a period or two, see how he is playing and how the game is going. But that's how we're starting."

All Lined Up -Here's our best guess at how the Caps and Bruins will look on Sunday afternoon in Toronto in the finale of a trio of round-robin games for both teams:

WASHINGTON

Forwards

8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson

13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie

62-Hagelin, 72-Boyd, 17-Kovalchuk

14-Panik, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway

Defensemen

4-Dillon, 9-Orlov

6-Kempny, 42-Fehervary

34-Siegenthaler, 3-Jensen

Goaltenders

70-Holtby

41-Vanecek

Out

20-Eller

30-Samsonov

74-Carlson

Extras

1-Copley

10-Sprong

16-Maillet

24-McMichael

27-Alexeyev

33-Gudas

47-Malenstyn

64-Pinho

78-Lewington

BOSTON

Forwards

63-Marchand, 37-Bergeron, 88-Pastrnak

74-DeBrusk, 46-Krejci, 28-Kase

21-Ritchie, 13-Coyle, 10-Bjork

20-Nordstrom, 52-Kuraly, 14-Wagner

Defensemen

33-Chara, 73-McAvoy

47-Krug, 25-Carlo

79-Lauzon, 75-Clifton

Goaltenders

40-Rask

41-Halak

Out

None

Extras

19-Senyshyn

26-Lindholm

27-Moore

35-Lagace

48-Grzelcyk

58-Vaakannainen

67-Zboril

68-Studnicka

80-Vladar

82-Frederic

83-Kuhlman