SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Even It Up -The Capitals head into the back half of a six-game road trip on Saturday night in Calgary, aiming once again to get to NHL .500 with a victory over the Flames. Washington is 1-1-1 on the trip to date. Like the Caps, the Flames are seeking to claw their up the standings ladder and into the top three or four clubs in their division; the Flames enter tonight's tilt sitting squarely at NHL .500 at 10-10-3.

Eight years ago at almost the same juncture of the season, the Caps found themselves in similar straits. After a somewhat uneven and occasionally rocky start to the 2014-15 season, the Caps finally climbed onto the right side of NHL .500, moving to 11-10-4 with a Dec. 4 road win over the Hurricanes in Carolina, thanks to an Eric Fehr swipe and snipe with less than five minutes left in the third.
Washington stayed on the good side of the ledger for the remainder of that season, finishing the campaign with a 45-26-11 mark, good for 101 points. Whether or not the Caps can author a similar finish remains to be seen, but they'd love to get over the hump and get back home on the good side of what passes for .500 in the NHL.
Tonight, they'll llook to take a step in that direction against a Calgary team they defeated by a 3-0 count eight days ago in Washington. After facing high-octane rush teams in each of the first three games of the trip, the Caps will face a more physical Flames team tonight.
"We geared up for it last time we played Calgary," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I think that's one thing that you can pull from when you played a team just recently and you had success that night; you can pull from the things that made you successful that night. We know what type of game it's going to be; it's Saturday night in their building and they play a heavy game, and they'll be ready to play. So it'll be different, but I think our teams adjust to the opponent when we need to."
Driver Eight - Caps captain Alex Ovechkin is in hot pursuit of his 800th career NHL goal, and he is seven shy of that milestone when he takes the ice tonight in Calgary. But when the captain takes his first shift of Saturday night's game, he will reach another milestone, playing in his 1,300th NHL contest.
Ovechkin will become the 14th player in League history to skate in 1,300 games with the same franchise, and he will become just the second player chosen first overall in the NHL Draft to do so. In that latter distinction, Ovechkin joins Mike Modano, who played 1,459 games with Minnesota/Dallas after being the first overall pick of the Minnesota North Stars in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.
Among all players who have skated in 1,300 or more games, only Wayne Gretzky (853) had more career goals at the time of his 1,300th contest, and Ovechkin's 1,435 career points are ninth most among those to reach the plateau.
Ovechkin will be just one game behind ex-Caps defenseman Sergei Gonchar (1,301) for second most games played by a Russian-born player. Ovechkin could overtake all-time leader Alex Kovalev (1,316) later this season.
Hockey Night In Canada - The Caps and Flames will start a shade later than the typical start time tonight in order to accommodate the iconic Hockey Night in Canada telecast. The Washington-Calgary game won't be the only one shown tonight as Montreal is visiting Edmonton and Vancouver is hosting Arizona, but for Canadian kids who grew up with HNIC as destination viewing on Saturday nights from October to April, it's always exciting to be part of that Saturday night tradition.
"I don't really think about it during the games - if we're on TV or not - I just try to play the same way," says Saskatchewan native Darcy Kuemper. "But in the big picture, it is pretty fun to get the opportunity to be a part of things like that. Those were the games you watched growing up, the games that were on cable, Hockey Night in Canada. It's a lot of fun and it's pretty special, and I think sometimes maybe you kind of overlook it as a player but at the end of the day, it's pretty cool to be a part of it."
Whether you're from out west or back east, you watched Hockey Night in Canada growing up, and for most who are good enough and fortunate enough to ascend to the NHL and to play under that spotlight, it's a surreal deal to be there.
"I think it's cool," says Ontario native Dylan Strome. "It's something that you grew up watching, Being from Toronto especially, usually you'd get the 7 o'clock games in Ontario at least, and you'd watch Coach's Corner growing up, with Don Cherry and Ron MacLean. It's cool to be a part of it.
"I think it's my second one. I did one with Chicago, maybe in Toronto. So it's cool. You know all of Western Canada is watching, and the late night folks in Ontario and the East Coast are watching, so it's cool."
It's especially cool when you're chosen as the player of the game and you get the sublime pleasure of being interviewed on national television with the coveted HNIC towel draped around your neck.
"Oh yeah, I think so," says Strome. "I think it's still cool to get one of those. You always see the guy and it's like a staple when you get the interview, so it's obviously a cool feeling.
"Yeah, I mean, I've kept every one I've ever gotten," says Kuemper of the towels. "It's pretty cool. I don't know what I'll do with them, but just kind of collect them and remember watching your heroes when you were younger wearing them around their neck. To get to replicate that is pretty cool."
In The Nets -Kuemper gets the start for the Capitals tonight in Calgary, eight days after he blanked the Flames by a 3-0 count in a Black Friday matinee in Washington, in the Caps' last home game prior to their current road trip. That shutout was Kuemper's second of the season and the 27th of his NHL career, and it was his fourth against the Flames, his highest total against any foe.
Kuemper leads the NHL with 19 starts and 1,090 minutes played. In his last four starts, Kuemper is 3-0-1 with a 1.50 GAA and a .946 save pct.
Lifetime against Calgary, Kuemper is 7-2-1 with a 1.61 GAA, a .953 save pct. and the four shutouts in 11 appearances (10 starts).
Dan Vladar gets the net for Calgary tonight against the Capitals. Jacob Markstrom is the Flames' No. 1 netminder, but he has always had difficulty against the Caps; he is 1-8-1 in 10 career starts against Washington. Markstrom has also started just two of Calgary's last five games as he deals with a bit of a confidence crisis.
Enter Vladar, the 6-foot-5 former Bruin. On the season, Vladar is 2-4-1 with a 2.70 GAA and a .913 save pct. in seven appearances. Lifetime against Washington, he is 1-2-0 with a 4.97 GAA and an .821 save pct. in three appearances.
All Lined Up - Here's how we believe the Capitals and the Flames might look when they take to the ice on Saturday night at Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 73-Sheary
15-Milano, 92-Kuznetsov, 77-Oshie
90-Johansson, 20-Eller, 39-Mantha
59-Protas, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
56-Gustafsson, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 3-Jensen
27-Alexeyev, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
35-Kuemper
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
52-Irwin
91-Snively
96-Aube-Kubel
Injured
9-Orlov (lower body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
28-Brown (lower body)
43-Wilson (knee)
47-Malenstyn (upper body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
CALGARY
Forwards
10-Huberdeau, 28-Lindholm, 73-Toffoli
29-Dube, 91-Kadri, 88-Mangiapane
63-Ruzicka, 11-Backlund, 20-Coleman
17-Lucic, 21-Rooney, 22-Lewis
Defensemen
55-Hanifin, 4-Andersson
52-Weegar, 8-Tanev
16-Zadorov, 26-Stone
Goaltenders
80-Vladar
25-Markstrom
Healthy Extras
3-Mackey
24-Ritchie
Injured
58-Kylington (personal)