SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Driver 8 -Nearly 17 and a half years ago, Alex Ovechkin made his NHL debut here in the District in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He scored the first two of his 819 career NHL goals that night, making Jackets goalie Pascal Leclaire the first of his 169 unique netminding victims.

Tonight, in conjunction with the NHL, the NHLPA and his Capitals teammates, the Caps will honor Ovechkin and his family for surpassing the great Gordie Howe (801) to move into second place on the League's all-time goals list earlier this season. Ovechkin scored twice in that Dec. 23 game against Winnipeg, putting him ahead of Howe and behind only Wayne Gretzky (894) on the NHL's all-time goals list.
A pregame ceremony will take place prior to puck drop tonight, and Ovechkin will be joined on the ice by his family and a number of dignitaries, including Caps' majority owner Ted Leonsis and team president Dick Patrick, along NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and others.
"This is well deserved," says Caps' coach Peter Laviolette. "To take a minute for what he's accomplished and what he's done. And just seeing the details of the night, it's a pretty special night. Like I said, it's well deserved."
Back In The Saddle Again - Entering the 2022-23 season, Caps winger Anthony Mantha just wanted to be healthy and have a chance to play in all 82 games. And while he has avoided injury to this late juncture of the season, the '22-23 campaign hasn't played out at all as Mantha and the Caps would have hoped.
Counted on as a top six winger in the midst of his prime, Mantha has struggled to produce to that level, and he has found himself sitting out as a healthy scratch in the season's second half. After appearing in each of the team's first 42 games, Mantha has been scratched for 10 of Washington's last 29 games since, including each of the last two.
Tonight, he will draw back into the lineup on the left side of a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Craig Smith.
"Sitting out feels terrible, obviously," says Mantha. "No one in this League is going to tell you that feels good. We're in the chase right now and I obviously want to help this team win, so my game needs to be the best it can be, and the best it has been this whole year, and that's what I'm looking for tonight."
A two-time 20-goal scorer, Mantha entered the season averaging roughly 25 goals and 52 points per 82 games over the course of his career. Throughout the first half of the season, the 28-year-old winger's counting numbers were down just a bit; he had nine goals and 23 points in 41 games in the season's first half.
When both Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson returned to the Washington lineup at the same time after missing the first 42 games of the season because of injury, Mantha was scratched for the next two games. He has been out of the lineup five separate times now, once for three games and once for one game, and for three games on the other three occasions.
"It's hard," Mantha admits. "I won't lie; it gets you mentally. This has been a tough year mentally. I just work on it with my guy and spend time trying to focus on what I need to do properly with a game coming. Today is my chance, and I need to have my best game of the year. That's the focus I have right now, just playing my game and having my best game."
Mantha hasn't played more than seven straight games at any point in the second half of the season, and his offensive struggles have been amplified over that span. He has one goal and three points in 20 games in the second half, and when he scored that one goal - on March 11 against the Islanders in New York - it ended a 19-game dry spell.
"It's horrible," says Mantha. "This season has been - by far - the toughest of my career. I had to change things in my own head, I had to change things working out, I had to change things on the ice. I feel like you're just trying to think of what's good to do next and what's not, and you are kind of questioning yourself every step of the way. You're thinking of what you need to remove from your mind when you're playing the game, and to stop thinking and just acting. And that's been the toughest part this year."
Hopefully and ideally, Mantha can get back to reading and reacting on the ice, and hopefully that starts tonight against Columbus. He still has 11 games with which to put a better paint job on what has been a difficult season for him.
"You overthink everything every time you have the puck," he says. "And for me, instead of making the right play at the right time, I'm thinking for half a second, and then the guy closes on you and you don't have that play available, and now you're trying to look for a second play instead of just acting right away. That's when your confidence is the best, when you're just reacting, your instinct is on and everything is just flowing."
In The Nets - With Darcy Kuemper still on the mend with an upper body injury, Charlie Lindgren gets the net tonight for Washington, making his third start in the Caps' last four games. Lindgren comes into tonight's game on the heels of a 5-3 loss to the Wild in Minnesota on Sunday, a game in which he was able to play at the Wild's Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the building where his father Bob Lindgren took him to see the team's first-ever home game on Oct. 11, 2000 against Philadelphia.
Lindgren was a seven-year-old lad then, and those were the days when NHL games could still end in ties. That one did, a 3-3 deadlock in the team's first ever home game.
Lindgren played at Xcel a couple of times as an amateur, but finally playing there as a visiting NHL netminder was a different experience, even if the outcome wasn't to his liking.
"Obviously I was frustrated after the game," says Lindgren, "but certainly I soaked it in. During warmups, even the smell going onto the ice [reached me]. I remember going to those games and it always smelled like mini donuts. And just smelling that, it brings you back to when you were young.
"And warmups there are so fun because there are so many fans in the stands already, and I saw a couple of St. Cloud [State] hats out there. Minnesota is home to me, and I've got so much love for that state and that area. They've obviously got a really good team this year, and it was amazing being there.
"And then seeing my family and friends after the game, I obviously wasn't in the best of spirits. But still, I've got a really great family out there, my wife was able to fly out, and a lot of my friends showed up. I've got a lot of love and respect for the state of Minnesota, and it was a really cool experience playing there."
Tonight, Lindgren seeks his 14th victory of the season as he takes on Columbus. In three career starts against the Blue Jackets, Lindgren is 1-1-1 with a 3.30 GAA and an .881 save pct.
For the Jackets, we are expecting to see Daniil Tarasov in net. He will be making his 17th appearance of the season (16th start) and is aiming to improve upon a 3-11-1 record, a 3.77 GAA and an .896 save pct.
Tarasov's lone career appearance against the Caps came last season, in a 3-1 loss in Washington on Dec. 4, 2021. He stopped 29 of 31 shots in that start.
All Lined Up - Here's how the Caps and Blue Jackets might look - it's a guess; the Caps are again working through some things with player availability for various reasons - on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
39-Mantha, 92-Kuznetsov, 16-Smith
15-Milano, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
73-Sheary, 26-Dowd, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 3-Jensen
52-Irwin, 27-Alexeyev
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
60-Fucale
Healthy Extras
18-Carlsson
59-Protas
Injured/out
28-Brown (lower body)
35-Kuemper (upper body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
74-Carlson (upper body)
COLUMBUS
Forwards
13-Gaudreau, 29-Laine, 86-Marchenko
91-Johnson, 38-Jenner, 96-Roslovic
19-Foudy, 34-Sillinger, 52-Bemstrom
50-Robinson, 18-Pederson, 24-Olivier
Defensemen
77-Blankenburg, 44-Gudbranson
75-Berni, 2-Peeke
15-Bayreuther, 27-Boqvist
Goaltenders
40-Tarasov
31-Hutchinson
Healthy Extras
None
Injured/out
7-Kuraly (oblique)
8-Werenski (torn shoulder labrum)
17-Danforth (upper body)
22-Bean (torn shoulder labrum)
90-Merzlikins (illness, personal)