SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Back In Ohio - The Caps kick off a set of back-to-backs against Metropolitan Division foes tonight in Ohio's capital city against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Washington concludes the quick trip on Friday when it visits the Hurricanes in Carolina.

Both opponents on this trip will have played in Canada the night before; Columbus interrupted a fairly long homestay for a one-game excursion to Ottawa where it took a 4-1 win over the Senators on Wednesday night. With a 7:30 p.m. local start time, travel, customs and other assorted issues, the Jackets didn't get back to Columbus until around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday.
But Columbus has been playing good hockey for an extended stretch of time, and Caps coach Peter Laviolette doesn't expect fatigue to be a factor at all in tonight's game.
"I've seen a lot of teams fighting for their lives, and the back-to-backs don't matter," says Laviolette. "They come out and they work their tail off and they seem to be working hard right now."
That said, the Caps can make life more difficult for the Jackets by making them play in their own end and making them feel the presence of Washington bodies on the forecheck and elsewhere.
"We've got to focus just on our game and on playing them," says Laviolette. "So anything that's part of it - putting pucks behind them or being physical - I think that's part of it anyway. But they're playing a competitive brand of hockey right now. They go up to Ottawa and they outplay them, outscore them and win a game, and they've done that to a lot of teams this year. Their record in the last 20 games is pretty good (12-6-2). They're doing a good job."
Columbus has only two fewer wins than Washington, but the Jackets trail the Caps by 11 points in the Metro standings with 11 games to go. Any faint hopes the Jackets have of catching the Caps has to start with a regulation win tonight.
"That's why I'm saying I would expect the same tonight," says Laviolette. "They're home resting right now. They sleep in, they come to the rink, and they know what's at stake. It's easy to look at the standings and understand the importance of the game, so we're planning on them being ready."
A Fine Line - In Tuesday night's 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders, the Caps' newly cobbled forward trio of - from left to right - Daniel Sprong, Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson was Washington's most effective unit at driving possession and offensive zone play. On their first shift of the night, Sprong forced a turnover deep in New York territory, leading to successive high danger chances for himself and for McMichael.
Over the remainder of the evening, the unit - which was put together because of Lars Eller's absence - continued to spend most of its shifts in the offensive zone. Sprong had been a healthy scratch in eight of nine games before Tuesday's tilt, but he will be back in the lineup on the same line tonight, playing consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 13-15, and doing so on his 25th birthday.
"I think we were playing to our strengths," says Sprong. "Willie is a big guy, and I've played with him in the past and Mikey, we've been together a lot this year. We're all really familiar with each other, and we've just have to keep playing that way and keep getting those chances, and one's going to go in soon."
McMichael's natural position is center, but he has played mainly on the wing in this, his rookie season in the NHL. He held his own on the face-off dot on Tuesday, winning half of his eight draws, and his line contributed six shots on net and teed up 11 shot attempts. Tuesday's game featured only one power play, enabling both Sprong and McMichael to log more ice time than their nightly average for the season.
"I've thought they've been good," says Laviolette of the line. "They've generated some chances. Mikey had a couple of point blank chances. I thought Spronger had the puck on his stick and in scoring opportunities early in the game, and so there is a little bit of chemistry.
"I really think Tom helps that line just with his veteran presence and his physicality. So it's been a good line, and especially in a back-to-back situation such as this, it allows me to roll four lines and to maximize the lineup as much as possible."
In The Nets -Vitek Vanecek starts tonight for Washington, starting for the sixth time in the team's last seven games, and aiming for his sixth straight victory. Vanecek made 29 saves in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders, and he made seven additional stops as the Caps prevailed in an eight-round shootout. The win over the Isles gives Vanecek the first five-game winning streak of his two-year NHL career.
Vanecek's 1.79 GAA at 5-on-5 this season is second in the League this season among goaltenders with more than a thousand minutes in the crease; only Boston's Jeremy Swayman (1.75) is better. Vanecek owns a .936 save pct. at 5-on-5 in 2021-22, third in the circuit behind only the Rangers' Igor Shesterkin (.939) and the Blues' Ville Husso (.938).
Since the calendar flipped to 2022, Vanecek is 9-3-0 in 14 appearances (a dozen starts), with three shutouts, a 2.18 GAA and a .918 save pct.
Elvis Merzlikins started and won his third straight game for the Jackets on Wednesday night in Ottawa, stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced in a 4-1 victory. Therefore, our expectation is that Joonas Korpisalo will get the net tonight for Columbus against the Capitals.
All Lined Up -Here's how we believe the Caps and the Blue Jackets might look on Thursday night in Columbus:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 73-Sheary
39-Mantha, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
10-Sprong, 24-McMichael, 43-Wilson
45-Jonsson-Fjallby, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-Schultz
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
30-Samsonov
Extras
6-Kempny
36-Vecchione
52-Irwin
Injured/Out
20-Eller (COVID-19 protocol)
62-Hagelin (upper body)
91-Snively (upper body)
COLUMBUS
Forwards
14-Nyquist, 96-Roslovic, 29-Laine
16-Domi, 34-Sillinger, 28-Bjorkstrand
93-Voracek, 7-Kuraly, 59-Chinakov
50-Robinson, 17-Danforth, 52-Bemstrom
Defensemen
8-Werenski, 2-Peeke
44-Gavrikov, 22-Bean
53-Carlsson, 46-Kukan
Goaltenders
70-Korpisalo
90-Merzlikins
Extras
5-Bayreuther
23-Gaunce
Injured/Out
24-Gerbe (hip)
38-Jenner (lower back)
40-Tarasov (hip)
42-Texier (finger)