SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Sixes And Sevens - Carrying a six-game home losing streak for the first time in the nearly quarter of a century since they moved to downtown Washington, D.C. late in 1997, the Caps are seeking to stop that streak tonight when they face the Carolina Hurricanes in the middle match of a three-game homestand.

Plenty of teams have had lengthier losing streaks at home during that same span, but it's unfamiliar territory for the Capitals, and they'll need to take down one of the top teams in the League - and a legitimate Stanley Cup contender - in Carolina in order to keep that streak from hitting seven.
"I think we have a history with them," says Caps center Nic Dowd. "They're usually emotional games, and that's good because that kind of drags the best out of everybody. They're always ready to play, so that challenges us to be ready to play off the first shift. And you're always looking to do a good job of starting periods, ending periods, and starting games and ending games. So I think it is good that we're facing a team that can provide a spark and bring out our best."
The Caps won the only previous meeting between the two teams this season, a 4-2 victory over the Canes in Carolina on Nov. 28 in Raleigh.
I've Returned - Almost exactly four months after being sidelined with a shoulder injury that required surgery and a lengthy rehab process, Caps winger Anthony Mantha has been activated from long term injured reserve and is expected to be in the lineup against Carolina tonight.
In corollary moves, Washington placed winger Joe Snively (upper body) on injured reserve and placed winger Carl Hagelin (eye) on long term injured reserve.
With Hagelin out and Mantha back in, the Caps' forward corps takes on a new look tonight. The top trio of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson stays intact, and Mantha settles in on the left side of a trio with Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, a trio of players who have each missed more than half of the season to date.
Daniel Sprong draws back into the lineup to skate the right side of a unit with Connor McMichael and Lars Eller, and Swiss Army knife Conor Sheary will occupy Hagelin's spot on the left side of a line with Dowd and Garnet Hathaway.
Last week, Sheary spent some time skating on the right side of the top line, and tonight he mans the left side of what is Washington's fourth line. That might seem like a demotion to some, but really it's just an indication of Sheary's utility and his ability to slide both vertically and horizontally on the team's forward depth chart, and to fit in seamlessly regardless of whom he is playing alongside.
"I think he is a real smart hockey player," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of Sheary. "He's got a great awareness to the game It doesn't matter whether it's right wing or left wing, he seems to be able to move through the lineup. It doesn't matter if he is playing 18 minutes a game or if he takes on a role that is a little bit different with Dowd and Hathaway. He seems to be able to adapt and adjust.
"I do think that probably the way he thinks the game allows him to move in those different lines and into different positions, but I also think he competes really hard on the ice. He works all the time. And so you get a smart player that works hard, they can move through the lineup."
The Sheary-Dowd-Hathaway line figures to have its hands full tonight; it figures to see a lot of minutes against Carolina's top trio of Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. That threesome has combined for 61 goals in the Hurricanes' first 53 games this season.
"I think Shears will fit in well," says Dowd. "The good thing about our line is that Garny and me, or Garny and Hags or Hags and I, and whomever we're playing with as a combination, we're pretty consistent with what we do. So it should be fairly easy for a third guy to come in and read off the other two players and understand how we play, and to try to continue to play that kind of game.
"I'm sure Shears will add a little bit of a different element, just like if someone plays in the middle instead of me or if someone [else] plays on the right, it will add a little bit of a different element. But all in all, we'll look to continue to build off what we've done this season and stick to what we've contributed to the team."
In The Nets -For the Capitals, Vitek Vanecek makes his first start since Feb. 1, when he suffered an upper body injury early in the first period of a start against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Vanecek was sidelined for nearly the rest of the month; he did a one-game conditioning stint with Hershey vs. Utica on Sunday, and he came off the bench in relief of Ilya Samsonov a night later against Toronto.
Vanecek was sharp against the Leafs, stopping 16 of the 17 shots he faced in the final two frames, but he was saddled with a hard luck loss when Rasmus Sandin scored the game-winner, snapping a 3-3 tie with less than four minutes remaining in regulation.
"Before Vitek got hurt, he was on a really good run and playing really well," says Laviolette. "We wanted to make sure coming in that he had some time and some practice and a game under his belt. He played [Sunday] in Hershey, and so it ended up that we made a switch in the goaltending [on Monday vs. Toronto], so he actually got time [Monday] and he looked really good.
"But he was playing really well at the time he got injured. His numbers over the last 8-10 game span were really good, and we need that."
In his last dozen appearances (10 starts), Vanecek is 6-4-0 with a 2.13 GAA and a .927 save pct. As Laviolette noted this morning, the Caps need him to pick up where he left off.
"I think it's real important," says the Caps' coach. "Obviously he was in a good spot when [the injury] happened a few weeks ago, and it's been a long process to get him back here. He's practiced hard, he's gone down and he's played a game in Hershey - did a good job down there - and came in and took on a couple of periods for us, and I thought he played a real good game there as well. It's important to get that consistency in net."
Vanecek will be making his first career appearance against Carolina tonight.
For the Hurricanes, we are expecting to see Frederik Andersen in net. In his first season with the Canes, Andersen leads the League with 29 victories (29-7-2) and is on the verge of recording the fifth 30-win season in his NHL career. He has been remarkably consistent this season, posting a 2.03 GAA and a .930 save pct. in 18 appearances at home and a 2.03 GAA with a .929 save pct. in 20 appearances on the road.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Andersen is 5-3-2 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.95 GAA and a .906 save pct. in 10 appearances.
All Lined Up - Here's how we believe the Caps and the Hurricanes might look on Thursday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
39-Mantha, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
24-McMichael, 20-Eller, 10-Sprong
73-Sheary, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-Schultz
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
60-Fucale
Extras
6-Kempny
52-Irwin
Injured/Out
30-Samsonov (upper body)
62-Hagelin (upper body)
91-Snively (upper body)
CAROLINA
Forwards
86-Teravainen, 20-Aho, 37-Svechnikov
48-Martinook, 16-Trocheck, 88-Necas
21-Niederreiter, 11-J. Staal, 71-Fast
78-Lorentz, 82-Kotkaniemi, 24-Jarvis
Defensemen
74-Slavin, 25-Bear
76-Skjei, 22-Pesce
28-Cole, 64-Chatfield
Goaltenders
31-Andersen
32-Raanta
Extras
18-Stepan
Injured/Out
7-Smith (upper body)
51-Gardiner (upper body)
77-D'Angelo (mid-body)