SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Six-Pack - The Caps kick off their 2022 exhibition season - a six-pack of preseason tune-ups - when they host the Buffalo Sabres in a Sunday matinee match at Capital One Arena. Following today's tilt, the Caps will play three straight road games later this week, visiting Philadelphia on Wednesday and traveling to Detroit on Friday and Columbus on Saturday.

Washington will conclude its preseason slate with a pair of home games, against Detroit on Oct. 5 and Columbus on Oct. 8.
First Air Of Autumn - A handful of young Caps hopefuls will suit up for their first preseason action at the NHL level this afternoon against the Sabres. Forwards Haakon Hanelt, Ryan Hofer and Alexander Suzdalev, defenseman Dru Krebs and goaltender Hunter Shepard are expected to get their first taste of NHL exhibition duty on Sunday against Buffalo.
"I remember my first [preseason] game was in Phoenix, against Phoenix," recalls Caps center Nic Dowd, when asked what his message would be to a young player debuting today. "I don't even remember who I played with, but I would say that the biggest thing that I learned is that regardless of how good a player you are and how many years you've played in the NHL and how many games you have, you're going to make mistakes and they're going to happen. Guys are going to make good plays on other teams, and mistakes are going to happen, and you're going to come back to the bench not feeling good about yourself.
"The most important thing is being able to bounce back from that and to go out and have another good shift, which can lead to a good period and into a good game, and all is forgotten. I used to be so stuck on one mistake, and it would change all the rest of my ice time. In reality, everybody makes mistakes. The best players in the world make mistakes. But it's how they go out and compete the next shift, and then no one remembers the mistakes they made. So that's what I would say, that mistakes are going to happen. Just continue to try to play well."
Red Light Special - It's been barely more than 48 hours since the Caps started their 2022 training camp, and teams typically don't spend much time working on special teams in the early days of camp. Given the number of young players in the lineups on both sides, it could make for some interesting situations in today's game when either side is operating with the man advantage.
"Well, there's not going to be a lot of those guys out there anyway," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette, referring to his special teams regulars. "And so we'll do our best to get them information. We've been doing that in the first few days; trying to get some offense down, trying to get some defense down.
"There'll be specialty teams for sure. Our coaches will work at that and try to give some information, and we'll handle it like we do a normal game. We'll try to give some pre-scout information, some power play information, some penalty kill information, and prepare these guys so they can try to be on the same page as we enter that first game."
The Camp Chase -Washington has 68 players on its training camp roster, and it will dress just 20 or those players for the game against Buffalo. With four players injured and unable to compete as of yet, that leaves 44 players in camp who aren't in Sunday's lineup. But those players didn't get to enjoy a Sunday off. They assembled at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for a 9 am practice session, followed immediately by a 40-minute scrimmage.
The Caps also had groups of players scrimmaging on Friday and Saturday.
"We're doing it a little bit different this year," says Laviolette of the layout of the camp schedule. "There's a lot of numbers at camp this year so it makes it a little bit different to manage those numbers. This was an opportunity we felt to get our [varsity] guys on the ice, mix some players into our group, so there will be some changes each day. But it's a chance for our guys to get going right away and to get up to speed, and we thought that was really valuable.
"On the game days when there is game lineup, especially early on, that lineup will be mixed, and so there will be some mixture in there. Underneath that, there will be a group of probably 42 or 44 players, and those groups will be mixed as well. And so that's an opportunity where we'll get two practices in. We're going to go with a two-practice rotation and then a scrimmage on a lot of days so that we can continue to evaluate - even for our guys that might not be playing early on, just to get out there and scrimmage and just get back into the grind of things a little bit.
"Some days it will look like this, other days - like [Sunday] when we play Buffalo - it will have a different feel to it with regard to the combination of the players.
In The Nets - Zach Fucale and Shepard will suit up as the Caps' goaltenders for Sunday's game, and both are expected to see duty between the pipes today. But Laviolette was noncommittal as to whether it would be an even split with the change coming midway through the second period, or whether one goalie would get two frames and the other would get one.
"Sometimes it depends on the experience and what we're looking for," says Laviolette. "You get two equal guys, maybe you get a couple of young guys that are equal, maybe you might split the game. If you have somebody that has more experience, you might give them the nod for two periods."
Fucale is set to enter his third season in the Washington organization. Although he spent most of last season with AHL Hershey, he did make a splash in the NHL last season. Last Nov. 11 in Detroit, Fucale made his NHL debut, blanking the Red Wings on 21 shots to become the first goaltender in Washington's franchise history to record a shutout in his debut in the League.
Just after the calendar flipped to 2022, Fucale was again recalled from Hershey, and he saw relief duty in St. Louis on Jan. 7 followed by a start in Minnesota the following night. Fucale extended his shutout streak to an NHL record 135 minutes and 17 seconds, breaking the mark formerly held by Minnesota's Jeff Hackett.
Fucale will share the netminding chores with Shepard this afternoon. Getting a taste of the NHL hasn't altered Fucale's mindset as he enters his eighth pro season.
"It doesn't feel different," says Fucale. "Every camp is exciting; it's a new season. Your workouts have ended with the summer, and it doesn't really cross your mind once you get in the heat of the moment, the testing, the medical stuff. You get on the ice for scrimmages and stuff and it doesn't cross your mind, what happened last year, honestly.
"But it's exciting because it's a time of year where there's a lot of opportunity and a lot of hope. Everybody comes in with a lot of hope, opportunity and excitement, so it's really no different for me. It was a fun season last year for me, but I'm looking to build on that. It's about setting the bar high and keeping it there."
All Lined Up - Here is how we believe the Capitals might line up, and here also is the Sabres' roster for Sunday's exhibition opener for both sides:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
59-Protas, 26-Dowd, 72-Sheary
16-Suzdalev, 24-McMichael, 39-Mantha
91-Snively, 29-Lapierre, 40-Pilon
65-Hanelt, 84-Hofer, 49-Leason
Defensemen
56-Gustafsson, 61-Has
42-Fehervary, 38-Iorio
51-Krebs, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
60-Fucale
31-Shepard
BUFFALO
Forwards
74-Asplund
24-Cozens
29-Hinostroza
48-Kozak
19-P. Krebs
27-Kulich
57-Mersch
81-Murray
77-Peterka
22-Quinn
13-Rousek
93-Savoie
8-Sheahan
Defensemen
38-Clague
4-Davies
45-Fitzgerald
20-Pilut
33-Priskie
86-Sova
5-Tischke
Goaltenders

32-Houser
1-Luukkonen
47-Subban