SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Home, Home Again - Back from a weeklong three-game trip out west, the Caps returned home on Wednesday and tonight they will host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second of just three meetings between the two longtime divisional rivals this season. The Caps and Pens will conclude their short season's series on March 25 when Washington makes its lone visit to the Steel City this season.

As they take the ice tonight, the Caps and Pens are tied for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division standings, with Pittsburgh holding three games in hand on Washington. So these points tonight are important."
"It's obviously a big game," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "It's [Metropolitan] Division, it's a rivalry that's already here. It's a division game, it's points in the standings for teams above us and teams below is. We're in the same boat.
Milestone Men - A pair of Caps forwards hit milestones in tonight's game against the Penguins. Winger Conor Sheary will play in the 500th game of his NHL career tonight while winger Anthony Mantha will suit up for the 400th game of his NHL career.
Sheary went undrafted following a four-year collegiate career at U.Mass-Amherst, signing with Pittsburgh as a free agent in October of 2014, months after the most highly sought after college free agents were already inked that year. After 90 games of AHL seasoning at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Sheary ascended to the NHL midway through the 2015-16 season, debuting with the Penguins in Boston on Dec. 16, 2015, four days after Pittsburgh promoted Mike Sullivan from WBS to replace Mike Johnston.
Sheary has remained in the NHL ever since.
"I remember game one pretty vividly, maybe more than others," says Sheary. "It was a 3-0 loss, I was minus-1, it was in Boston; just little things like that, that I feel like just stands out, and you're able to remember that one a lot more than others. But since then, it's been a long journey. I was lucky to play one game in this League, and to get to 500 is pretty special, especially as an undrafted kid.
"But yeah, I'm excited for tonight against an old team, and hopefully it will be a good night for our team as well."
Soon after Sullivan took over in Pittsburgh, Sheary followed him to the Steel City.
"Conor is a really good player," says Sullivan. "He works extremely hard; he is a great pro, he has great offensive instincts, he has got a passion for the game, and I think that's what drives him. For a guy that's an undersized guy, that's an undrafted guy, he has certainly maximized the opportunities that he has been given, and he has earned his way everywhere he has gone. It doesn't surprise me that he is playing 500 [tonight]. I'm sure he's got many more ahead of him; he is a great pro and he is a terrific player."
Mantha was a first-round choice (20th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft. Following a highly successful junior career with Val d'Or of the QMJHL, Mantha turned pro at the start of the 2014-15 season with AHL Grand Rapids. After two full seasons there, debuting with Detroit in Philadelphia on March 15, 2016.
"Game number one is always so exciting," Mantha recalls. "You've got family, you've got friends [in attendance]. Mine was in Philly back in the day, so everyone came in. I think they drove actually; it was only like a five-hour from Montreal or something like that, so they all drive together and it was an awesome night."
"Four hundred comes a lot of years later than I would have expected 400, to be honest with you. I had lots of injuries throughout the way, but hey, here we are and we're going to have fun."
Reflecting back on those 400 games over nearly seven years, Mantha finds himself more mature both on and off the ice.
"It's been good," he says. "I was an immature player - if I can use that term - and I made mistakes and things like that. I think I'm more mature offensively and defensively now, and outside of the game, having my own child now, it's been awesome."
Leading Men -- Washington hit the 50-game mark for the season on Tuesday in Denver, and although it played a solid game, it never led and suffered its fifth regulation loss in its last seven games (2-5-0). Over those seven games, the Caps have owned the lead for a total of 66 minutes and 57 seconds of the nearly 425 minutes of hockey they've played over that span. And most (56 minutes and 57 seconds) of that lead time came a week ago tonight in a 4-0 win over the Coyotes in Arizona.
Last season, the Caps scored the game's first goal in 52 of their 82 games, tied for second most in the NHL. This season, Washington has scored first in only 22 of 50 games to rank tied for 22nd in the League. And while the Caps own a .393 points percentage (11-14-3) to rank ninth in the circuit in points percentage when trailing first, they tend to fall into ruts where they're yielding the game's first goal frequently and then chasing the game, sometimes unsuccessfully.
Only Boston (14) and New Jersey (12) have more wins than Washington when yielding the game's first goal, but both of those clubs have given up the game's first goal seven fewer times (21) than the Caps this season.
"It's been a big key for us and something we talk about is having good starts in games," says Sheary. "A lot of times, we've been able to kind of dominate games, but it's the start that's been killing us. We're letting teams get one or two goals ahead, and then we're going to have to fight back the whole game.
"Hopefully tonight, our first 10 [minutes] we can focus on and hopefully come up 1-0 or 2-0, whatever it may be. But it's important for us to have a good start, and I think that will lead to a positive 60 minutes for us."
In The Nets -Darcy Kuemper is in the nets tonight for Washington, making his fourth consecutive start and seeking to shake off consecutive setbacks. He has won two of his last six starts (2-4-0) while yielding three or more goals against in five of the six. He has a 3.08 GAA and an .894 save pct. over that span, which also includes a 4-0 shutout victory in Arizona last week.
Over the longer haul, Kuemper's numbers have been much better. Over his last 17 starts, Kuemper is 9-4-3 with four shutouts, a 2.34 GAA and a .923 save pct.
Kuemper hasn't quite received the same level of offensive support as his partner Charlie Lindgren this season. While the Caps have scored an average of 3.79 goals per game with Lindgren in the nets, they've managed just 2.67 goals per game with Kuemper in goal. Among all netminders with 15 or more appearances this season, Lindgren ranks fifth in goal support and Kuemper ranks 41st among a group of 55.
Lifetime against Pittsburgh, Kuemper is 2-3-1 with a 3.15 GAA and a .905 save pct. in six career appearances.
Casey DeSmith will be between the pipes for the Penguins tonight. With Tristan Jarry (upper body) ailing, DeSmith has seen action in eight of Pittsburgh's last 11 games, going 3-3-1 with a 3.93 GAA and an .880 save pct. over that span.
In four career appearances against Washington, DeSmith is 3-1-0 with a 2.45 GAA and an .896 save pct.
All Lined Up - Here's how we believe the Caps and the Pens might look on Thursday night when they meet at Capital One Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 77-Oshie
39-Mantha, 92-Kuznetsov, 73-Sheary
15-Milano, 19-Backstrom, 90-Johansson
96-Aube-Kubel, 20-Eller, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
56-Gustafsson, 57-van Riemsdyk
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
52-Irwin, 42-Fehervary
Goaltenders
35-Kuemper
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
27-Alexeyev
59-Protas
Injured/out
26-Dowd (lower body)
28-Brown (lower body)
43-Wilson (lower body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
74-Carlson (upper body)
PITTSBURGH
Forwards
59-Guentzel, 87-Crosby, 17-Rust
16-Zucker, 71-Malkin, 67-Rakell
23-McGinn, 53-Blueger, 77-Carter
10-O'Connor, 25-Poehling, 43-Heinen
Defensemen
8-Dumoulin, 58-Letang
28-Pettersson, 26-Petry
73-Joseph, 2-Ruhwedel
Goaltenders
1-DeSmith
40-Tokarski
Healthy Extras
45-Gruden
52-Friedman
Injured
15-Archibald (lower body)
35-Jarry (upper body)
42-Kapanen (lower body)
44-Rutta (lower body)