SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 11/3

There's No Place Like Home -Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Washington Capitals own the best home ice record in the NHL at 115-40-14. They'll open up a five-game homestand - the second longest of the season - tonight at Capital One Arena with the Dallas Stars in town to provide the opposition.

After an up and down first month of the season in which they earned points in seven of 11 games but haven't yet managed to string together consecutive victories, the Caps are hoping the combination of home cooking and a schedule that has them playing every other day can be a springboard to success.
Washington also endured an uneven start in October of last season. The Caps came home from an unsuccessful Western Canada trip in late October and got well by winning four straight home games. In mid-November of last season, the Caps limped home from consecutive bad beats on a two-game road trip to Nashville and Colorado. When they returned home from that trip, they played nine of their next 10 at home, and went 8-2-0 during that stretch.
Now, the Caps are hoping the impending homestand can help them rebound from a wobbly start to the season, and from a 6-4 loss in Montreal on Thursday, a game in which Washington led with just over three minutes remaining.
"It's kind of a similar situation, obviously," says Caps goalie Braden Holtby. "It's a little bit different in the fact that it was a close game [Thursday] night. But it was the same type of mistakes being made between goaltending and our team and everything. So it's a good time for a wake-up call and a good time to get back on home ice, get into a rhythm and to use these games to not focus on the points we get out of them, but to focus on our game and how we have to play, and how to improve that to become a consistent team.
"The big positive is that we know we can overcome that, we know we can be that elite style of team. It's just a matter of getting that drive and that commitment to do it, and we have it in this room. Now it's on us to perform."
First Two, Last Two - Washington has permitted 42 goals in 11 games this season, with two of those being empty-netters at the end of games. Of the other 40 goals against, more than a quarter of them - 11 in total - have come either in the first two minutes or last two minutes of a period. In four of their six losses this season - including Thursday night's loss in Montreal - the Caps have yielded two such goals in the same game.
"There are certain key times and certain shifts that take on more importance than others," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "The last minute of periods, first minute of periods, shifts after goals, if you're on the road and [the opponent] is making a big push and 22,000 people are screaming and it's loud, that shift is big because you want to make sure to take some of the energy out of the building. That's something we're still working through as a group, figuring out the importance of those. To me, that's game management, understanding the importance of certain shifts and timing. That's something that is a learned trait as a team, and something where you have to go through unfortunately some hard times to learn your lesson on those."
Goals against very early or very late in periods can be more demoralizing than others, because they tend to alter the paint job on the game either right before or right after a team is in the locker room together with time to think and talk about it.
"A lot of that is mental," says Holtby. "When a goal happens in the middle of the period, you're right back on the ice, and you're not thinking about it. But when you go into the locker room for 20 minutes [for intermission], it's automatically a negative or a positive mood when a goal is scored in the last few seconds."
Seven of Washington's 11 games this season have included at least one goal against in the first two or last two minutes of a frame, and it took a shootout win in Calgary to overcome Matthew Tkachuk's tying goal in the penultimate minute of regulation. Losses to Pittsburgh, Toronto, Florida and Montreal have included two such goals against.
"Maturity and mental toughness can help overcome that, but it's harder for a team," says Holtby. "It's one of those things that a lot of teams struggle with, and right now we're probably in that boat, too. But if you look at where our team went last year, that was one of our biggest strengths, putting those behind us no matter when they happened and just going out and playing. We just want to get back to our identity in those areas. As long as we keep pushing ourselves and we push ourselves even harder than we have in the past - because it's going to be different this year - we're going to be okay."
Threepeat? -The Caps swept the season's series from the Stars last season. They won a pair of 4-3 decisions, winning in Dallas on Andre Burakovsky's overtime goal in December and downing the Stars in D.C. on March 20. Tonight, the Caps will be seeking a third straight win against the Stars, something they haven't achieved since 1990 when the franchise was still in Minnesota and known as the North Stars.
Back in the 1989-90 season, the Caps and North Stars faced one another three times a season, and Washington earned wins over Minnesota in January, February and March of 1990.
In The Nets -Holtby gets the start for the Caps, and he'll be looking to bounce back from Thursday's game in Montreal, only his second regulation loss to the Canadiens in 16 career appearances. He made a season-high 38 saves in that game, several of the spectacular variety, but it's the one he didn't make at the end that stands out now. Max Domi's shot glanced off Holtby's catching glove and into the net, turning a 4-4 tie into a Montreal victory with 21.8 seconds left in regulation.
Holtby has a history of bouncing back from bad beats, but he'll be up against one of his nemeses in the Stars. Lifetime against Dallas, Holtby is 2-4-0 with a 4.06 GAA and an .846 save pct. in seven career appearances.
For Dallas, we are expecting to see Ben Bishop in net. Now in his second season with the Stars, his fifth NHL team, Bishop is 5-4-0 on the season with a 2.26 GAA and a .925 save pct., but he has struggled against Washington over the course of his NHL career. In 11 career appearances against the Caps, Bishop is 2-6-2 with a 3.46 GAA and an .888 save pct.
All Lined Up -Here is how we expect the Capitals and the Stars will look when they hook up for the first game of Washington's five-game homestand on Saturday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 13-Vrana
65-Burakovsky, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
23-Jaskin, 20-Eller, 10-Connolly
18-Stephenson, 26-Dowd, 25-Smith-Pelly
Defensemen
6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
29-Djoos, 22-Bowey
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
1-Copley
Injuries
43-Wilson (league suspension)
44-Orpik (lower body)
72-Boyd (lower body, day-to-day)
Scratches
79-Walker
DALLAS
Forwards
17-Shore, 91-Segiun, 13-Janmark
14-Benn, 90-Spezza, 43-Nichushkin
15-Comeau, 12-Faksa, 18-Pitlick
46-Smith, 16-Dickinson, 25-Ritchie
Defensemen
23-Lindell, 3-Klingberg
4-Heiskanen, 45-Polak
48-Heatherington, 6-Honka
Goaltenders
30-Bishop
35-Khudobin
Injuries
5-Carrick (lower body)
11-Hanzal (back)
28-Johns (upper body)
47-Radulov (lower body)

Scratches
33-Methot
37-Dowling