SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Baby Just Break -The Caps take on the Blue Jackets in Columbus tonight in their final game ahead of the NHL's All-Star Weekend in Florida, and Washington's "bye week," which immediately follows the All-Star break. After tonight's tilt in Columbus, the Caps will be quiet and idle until an afternoon practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Feb. 9. Washington's next game is a Saturday matinee match against the Bruins in Boston on Feb. 11.

Roughly two-thirds of the teams in the League are currently on their bye week, and while the Caps are parked next week, several of their fellow Metropolitan Division denizens will be back at it, picking up points while the Caps look on from afar. And tonight's game with the Jackets is Washington's final opportunity to bank some points for the better part of two weeks.
"They're going to be picking up points anyway, because we've played the most games in the League," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "So we're already in that position. I think it's best just to worry about ourselves here, and the two points that are at stake tonight, and focus on that and try to win a hockey game.
"What happens before the break and after the break with other teams, we can't control any of that. But we certainly can control tonight."
As Laviolette states, the Caps have played the most games (52) in the Eastern Conference, along with Florida and the New York Islanders. When they return from their break, the Caps will have 29 games remaining.
At the end of December, Washington was on pace for a 99-point season. But after a 5-7-1 January, the Caps are now on target for just 91 points, a total that typically results in missing the playoffs. When Washington entered the playoffs as the eighth seed last spring, it did so with 100 points.
"I think there has been enough inconsistent play recently for this game to be a little bit of a statement to ourselves of how we have to play the game," says Caps' right wing T.J. Oshie. "You look at the standings and you see this team. And you look at some of the video clips that we watched this morning - and even just thinking about when we played them the last couple of times - [the Jackets] play hard. And I think that's going to be a really good challenge for us and one that if we do make that statement to ourselves, we'll have success and we'll have that good feeling for 11 days here before we get back together again."
"I think the guys are focused," says Laviolette. "We've got to win a hockey game, so we're not on break yet; we've still got work to do. And we're on a road trip right now, and I think they realize that and understand that. There is certainly room for improvement off of our last game, and I think they'll be ready to play."
Dry River - Pucks that were going into the net and turning the red light on for Washington have not been doing so this month. With 60 goals in 15 December games, the Capitals led the entire NHL in scoring last month, and they led the circuit with 37 goals at 5-on-5 as well.
But the new month and the new year have not proven to be as prolific for the Caps, not yet anyway. With just 34 goals in 13 January games, the Caps are tied for 26th in raw goals scored totals this month, and their total of 26 goals at 5-on-5 in January is tied for 19th. With an average of 2.62 goals per game this month, the Caps rank 27th in the League.
"I said it the other day, we've got to do a better job of bringing people and pucks to the net, and getting pucks and people into that tight zone one area," says Laviolette. "If you do that, you increase your chances of scoring, so just making it a little bit more difficult in there. But certainly the number for us this year is three. When we're able to score three, we're pretty successful, and when we're not able to score that [we're not].
"But I think defensively too, we've got to tighten up just from where we were in Toronto, where we gave up too many big chances. I think it's a little bit of defense and a little bit of offense that can change the score."
In eight of its last 11 games and each of its last four, Washington has scored two or fewer goals, and the Caps' 4-7-0 record in those 11 games reflects their recent struggles both offensively and defensively.
"You've just got to stick with it," says Oshie. "You've got to not get discouraged. We don't have a lot of time to practice. We've played a lot of games - especially compared to some of the other teams that we're chasing with here. - and that makes a difference when you're not practicing, when you're not getting those little touches, those little skill touches. You go a couple of games without having any scoring chances and without having any practices, and you can you can feel a little rusty when you do get one of those.
"You've just got to stick with it, bear down, keep going to the hard areas. That's the hardest thing. Sometimes when you're not having success, you tend to try to get an easy goal or cheat a little for the offense or maybe wait and let your linemates make the play for you so you have an empty netter, when really you need to do the opposite - go to the net more, get more on the inside. Get a couple of greasy ones to get some confidence and then maybe the skill ones will follow after that."
Despite winning just five games this month, the Caps have poured 30 or more pucks on opposing nets in 10 of their 13 January games and they are averaging 32.5 shots on net per game this month.
"I wish we could look for the pass a little more, especially when you already have so many shots," says playmaking center Evgeny Kuznetsov. "I want us to go to that danger area and get open. Before you try to pass, the other four guys have got to get there and get open. And if nothing is open there, then we can shoot to create rebounds maybe. But I feel like some games, the goalies have the momentum and they can feel everything. So we've got to create a few more high danger chances to go to that danger area."
"You've got to kind of fight for position around the net and hope that one is going to kick your way," says Caps center Lars Eller. "A lot of the second pucks, maybe we can be a little hungrier to get to the rebounds. Screen goalies on the shots from the point, maybe we can do a little bit better job of that. But other than that, I don't know. It's tough. If you're already out-chancing the other teams, then you should win, so hopefully that all evens out."
Four months into the season now, the months of October (5-4-1), November (5-7-2) and January (5-7-1) look similar while December (11-2-2) looks like the outlier. But it's never that simple. The Caps have had a revolving door of players in and out of their lineup, and some players are missed more keenly than others as their absences drag on. Washington has also had many more games where it played well enough to win but did not do so than games where the opposite is true. Some 52 games into the season, it's still difficult to discern who the "real" Capitals are.
"I feel like in December, it felt like everyone was on board with how we had to play," says Oshie. "And that's why I think the scoring was so balanced because it felt like we were coming at people in waves, even against teams that were probably better than us on paper, and definitely in the standings. Every line was - no matter who was on those lines - was clicking. Our [defensemen] were moving the puck fast, and our forwards were doing all the things that we've been doing pretty good lately; we were just doing it more consistently and on an every shift basis. So, playing hard defensively. We were doing that like 100% of the time or 95% of the time. Right now, it's been a little too inconsistent.
"I definitely think we're more like that December team. And for whatever reason, we just took a step back here. Some of that could be the team, some of that could be just a lot of guys have been in and out of our lineup, myself included. So other guys haven had to try to handle that load, and at times that can take a toll on you.
"I think this break will be good for us. And if we get more to that consistent, full-ice defense and really just supporting each other on the ice, taking care of each other even when guys do make a mistake, I think that success will come back and it will come back in a nice big wave, and I think it will lead to a hopefully solid month of February."
Leader Of Men - Sunday night in Toronto, Laviolette coached his 1,400th NHL game, becoming just the 13th coach in NHL history to reach that plateau. In doing so, he tied the late Pat Quinn (1,400) for 12th place on the all-time NHL coaching ledger. Tonight in Columbus, Laviolette will tie ex-Caps bench boss Ron Wilson (1,401) for 11th place on the list.
Somewhat remarkably, five of the top 11 coaches on that list are still active, led by Florida's Paul Maurice (1,737), who is in fourth place all-time. New Jersey's Lindy Ruff (1,680) is fifth, Calgary's Darryl Sutter (1,447) is ninth, and Philadelphia's John Tortorella (1,434) is 10th.
Once he passes Wilson, the next stationary target for Laviolette is Dick Irvin (1,449), who is currently in eighth place.
In The Nets - Darcy Kuemper started Sunday's trip opener in Toronto, starting a fifth straight game for the first time this season. Kuemper has started nine of Washington's last 10 games, and tonight, Charlie Lindgren gets the net for his first start in two weeks, since a 3-2 loss to Minnesota at home on Jan. 17. Since that start against the Wild, Lindgren has seen relief duty twice, once in Vegas on Jan. 21 and again in Toronto on Sunday.
"Charlie was scheduled; we had him penciled in for this game," says Laviolette. "It was good - for him, anyway - to get a little bit of the last game against Toronto. He was pegged for this one, so he'll be in net tonight."
In his last 14 games (12 starts), Lindgren is 9-3-2 with a 2.18 GAA and a .919 save pct. Lifetime against Columbus, he is 0-1-1 in two appearances (both starts) with a 3.47 GAA and an .860 save pct.
For the Jackets, Joonas Korpisalo gets the start tonight. Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins have virtually split the minutes in the crease for Columbus this season, with Korpisalo jumping ahead recently, by starting four straight games before Merzlikins started the finale of the Jackets' recent trip in Seattle, which was also the second night of a set of back-to-backs.
In his last seven appearances, Korpisalo is 3-3-1 with a 3.64 GAA and a .900 save pct. Lifetime against Washington, Korpisalo is 3-2-1 with a shutout, a 2.13 GAA and a .932 save pct. in seven appearances (six starts).
All Lined Up - Here's how we believe the Caps and the Blue Jackets might look on Tuesday night in Columbus:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 73-Sheary
90-Johansson, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
15-Milano, 92-Kuznetsov, 39-Mantha
96-Aube-Kubel, 20-Eller, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
56-Gustafsson, 57-van Riemsdyk
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
52-Irwin, 42-Fehervary
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
35-Kuemper
Healthy Extras
27-Alexeyev
59-Protas
Injured
26-Dowd (lower body)
28-Brown (lower body)
43-Wilson (lower body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
74-Carlson (upper body)
COLUMBUS
Forwards
13-Gaudreau, 38-Jenner, 29-Laine
91-Johnson, 34-Sillinger, 86-Marchenko
19-Foudy, 96-Roslovic, 52-Bemstrom
50-Robinson, 7-Kuraly, 24-Olivier
Defensemen
4-Gavrikov, 2-Peeke
75-Berni, 44-Gudbranson
15-Bayreuther, 47-Bjork
Goaltenders
90-Merzlikins
70-Korpisalo
Healthy Extras
18-Pederson
23-Christiansen
Injured
8-Werenski (torn shoulder labrum)
14-Nyquist (upper body)
17-Danforth (upper body)
22-Bean (torn shoulder labrum)
27-Boqvist (upper body)
59-Chinakhov (sprained ankle)
72-Meyer (oblique)
77-Blankenburg (upper body)
93-Voracek (concussion)