SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Blue Monday - When the Caps arrived at PNC Arena for Monday's morning skate prior to tonight's tilt with the Hurricanes, they were greeted with grey skies and somber news. Right wing T.J. Oshie will be lost to the team indefinitely, and defenseman John Carlson is day-to-day, but he won't play tonight in Raleigh. Both players suffered lower body injuries in the first period of Saturday's 3-0 win over the Predators in Nashville.

Tonight's game is the 10th of the season for the Caps, and they've played without center Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and wingers Carl Hagelin (hip) and Tom Wilson (knee) for all of those games, and they've also been without winger Connor Brown (lower body) for the last five contests. Throw in the long-term absence of Oshie and Carlson's day-to-day status, and the Caps will take the ice tonight without their top defenseman, three of their usual top six forwards, four of their top nine and five of their top 12 players up front.
Backstrom, Carlson and Oshie are all on Washington's first power play unit, and Wilson and Brown both log power play time as well. Going into Saturday's game in Nashville, Carlson was averaging 24:12 per night in ice time, the 15th highest rate among all NHL defensemen, tops among all Washington skaters, and his own highest personal average since 2019-20 (24:38).
With Oshie and Carlson out, forward Connor McMichael and defenseman Matt Irwin will draw into the lineup tonight, Irwin for the first time this season. Washington had been one of only four NHL teams to dress the same six defensemen for every game this season.
"Matty Irwin is really excited to play the game tonight," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "He's been a soldier for this team and the guys love him, and he's going to come in and he's going to give us a great game. Mikey draws in tonight, and he's excited to play. When you come to [training] camp, you want to get into the lineup and be a starter and be a regular, and it had not worked out for Mikey that way to this point, and so this is an unbelievable opportunity for him, so you've got to look at it that way."
Brown, Carlson, Oshie and Wilson are all right-handed shooters, and their simultaneous absences leaves the Caps tilted heavily to the portside with their remaining healthy players.
"The one thing about the power play is we've got guys who can do it," says Laviolette. "I look at it more in that there's a lot of right shots out of the lineup; Wilson's out, Brown's out, Oshie's out, and Carlson's out, and that's a lot of right-handed sticks for us that are missing, and so you're moving things around now in a different way. But that's just something that we've got to get through. This is the hand that we're dealt for tonight, and we're going to play that hand hard."
At Monday's morning skate, Marcus Johansson occupied the goal line spot on the Caps' first power play unit, and Dmitry Orlov was in Carlson's normal spot up top. Across the middle from left to right were Alex Ovechkin, Conor Sheary and Dylan Strome. That leaves the Caps with three lefties in power play spots typically occupied by right-handed shots.
"Osh is one of the best there is at that [bumper] position, and not just scoring," says Johansson. "He's getting pucks back and he's tough to replace in that area. A righty gives more of a one-timer option maybe, but I think today in the pre-game skate, Shears did a great job. He was in the right position and he seemed to make plays that are easier for a lefty or better for a lefty, and it looked great."
Nothing needs to be said in the room, the Caps know what they're up against, and every player in the lineup will need to prepare for the responsibility of a greater role and more ice time.
"We didn't even talk about it," says Laviolette. "It's business, and we like the lineup we have in there tonight. We've got to go out and play hard, we know we're playing against a real good team. The games we had against them last year, they're fast, they're physical and they were competitive, so we know we've got to be ready to play.
"But that's not something that we really talk about, I think there's just that understanding that two guys draw out tonight and two guys draw in. Those guys have been part of our team, so I'm sure they're excited to get in and to get going, so we're excited to have them."
"Everyone needs to step up," says Johansson. "We lost two very important guys to this team, and it's not something you can just replace, so everyone needs to take a little bit more responsibility and play a few more minutes. It's definitely going to be a little different without them, but we'll do our best. We have such depth on this team, which is a good thing when things like this happen. The rest of us have a big job ahead of us, and hopefully we can get them back as soon as possible."
Carry Fourth - For the better part of the two previous seasons, the Caps' fourth line of Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway was a constant in the Washington lineup. But since Hagelin suffered an eye injury at practice last March 1, he has been absent from the lineup and the Caps have been trying out a handful of different options at his left wing spot, with varying degrees of success.
Most recently though, they've had Beck Malenstyn in that spot for each of the last three games, with some good results.
"I thought the line was really good," said Laviolette after Saturday's win in Nashvillle. "They've contributed offensively, but that's what they've done the last couple of years; they've chipped in and they've helped out. Malenstyn has gotten the last the last few games, but he was really noticeable for me with not just the goal, but his speed, his physicality. He bangs bodies out there, he's in the hunt, and it makes us a team that's harder to play against."
Malenstyn made his NHL debut just under three years ago, getting into three midseason games with the Caps in November of 2019. He got into a dozen games last season, netting his first NHL goal in a Nov. 30, 2021 game at Florida. In his 2022-23 debut against New Jersey a week ago, Malenstyn logged a single-game career high of 11:41 in ice time and picked up an assist. He scored his first goal of the season on Saturday night in Nashville, the first goal of the game and his first game-winner in the NHL.
"I'm definitely starting to feel more comfortable," said Malenstyn after the Nashville game. "Getting to play with those guys consistently really helps to learn how they're playing, what plays need to be made and stuff like that, and there's still room to grow for me. I'm just taking it day by day and making the most of every opportunity I get, and I'm just grateful to be up here right now."
Regardless of who is on the left side of the Dowd line, it has been productive offensively. Dowd, Hathaway and the left wing du jour have combined to score seven goals in Washington's first nine games this season.
"It's definitely a defense first kind of game," says Malenstyn. "And that where the focus needs to be. And it's been said for a long time that good defense leads to good offense, and you can see that in those guys, too. They take a lot of pride in that. When things don't go well, they're on top of it right away to change things up and make sure that they're effective defensively, and they've done a great job for a number of years of doing it.
"It's definitely the first thought in your mind that you've got to be good in your own zone and get the puck out. In the neutral zone, you've just got to get pucks in, and then once you're in the offensive zone, and that's where that creativity can come to life a little bit, and you can hang onto the puck a little longer and make some plays.
"But definitely the biggest part of that role is to be able to lock it down defensively, be smart in those areas, and from that, that's going to lead to more opportunities in the offensive zone."
In The Nets -Monday night's game is the front end of a set of back-to-backs for the Caps; they head home after tonight's tilt to host Vegas at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. Coming off a 34-save shutout in Nashville, Darcy Kuemper gets the front end of the back-to-back on the road, as the Caps elect to stay with the hot hand.
On the season, Kuemper is 4-3-0 with a 2.47 GAA and a .919 save pct. in seven starts. Lifetime against Carolina, he is 1-2-0 with a 3.91 GAA and an .883 save pct. in four appearances (three starts).
We are expecting to see Frederik Andersen in net tonight for Carolina. Andersen is 3-2-0 with a 2.81 GAA and an .898 save pct. in five starts this season. Lifetime against the Caps, he is 6-4-2 with a 2.87 GAA and a .908 save pct. in a dozen appearances, all starts.
All Lined Up - Here's how we expect the Caps and the Hurricanes to look when they take the ice on Monday night at PNC Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 73-Sheary
24-McMichael, 92-Kuznetsov, 90-Johansson,
59-Protas, 20-Eller, 39-Mantha
47-Malenstyn, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 3-Jensen
56-Gustafsson, 52-Irwin
Goaltenders
35-Kuemper
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
91-Snively
Injured
19-Backstrom (hip)
28-Brown (lower body)
43-Wilson (knee)
62-Hagelin (hip)
74-Carlson (lower body)
77-Oshie (lower body)
CAROLINA
Forwards
86-Teravainen, 20-Aho, 24-Jarvis
37-Svechnikov, 82-Kotkaniemi, 88-Necas
48-Martinook, 11-J. Staal, 71-Fast
23-Noesen, 26-Stastny, 21-Stepan
Defensemen
74-Slavin 8-Burns
76-Skjei, 22-Pesce
15-Coghlan, 5-Chatfield
Goaltenders
31-Andersen
32-Raanta
Healthy Extras
44-de Haan
73-Kase
Injured
51-Gardiner (hip)
67-Pacioretty (Achilles)