SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 12/6

December In The Desert - The Caps are in Glendale on Thursday night, playing the middle match of a three-game road trip in which they'll play in three different time zones. The journey started on Tuesday night with a 5-3 loss to the Golden Knights in Vegas.

The Caps carry a two-game regulation losing streak into Thursday's game, and it's been rare indeed for Washington to let such a small speed bump fester into anything more than that in the last half decade. Over the last five seasons - including the current one - the Caps have endured only three stretches of as many as three games without picking up a standings point.
Two of those spells came in 2014-15; the Caps dropped four straight games in regulation from Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2014, the last of which came against Arizona. Washington also lost three straight in regulation later that season from Feb. 22-27, 2015.
Washington also endured a four-game slide without standings points late in 2016-17, from March 6-12. But entering tonight's game in the desert, the Caps have gone 123 games - the equivalent of a season and a half - without a dry spell of more than two straight pointless games.
The Caps have put together a remarkable run of consistency over a stretch of more than 350 regular season hockey games since the start of '14-15.
"I think it's just the attitude in the locker room here," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "No one wants to lose any games, but we're smart enough to know it's going to happen. When you lose, you want to get back on track as soon as possible because when you start to get that snowball rolling the wrong way, it's kind of hard to stop. Lately, this team has been good at turning it around, and that's what we want to do tonight."
Tonight the Caps will try to extend that streak in a building that's been tough for them in recent years. Since Alex Ovechkin scored "The Goal" here on Jan. 16, 2006, the Caps are 1-4-1, their lone win coming on an Eric Fehr overtime goal more than four years ago, on Nov. 18, 2014. They'll be facing an Arizona team that's aiming for its fifth straight win. The Coyotes had a five-game winning run earlier in the season, and they have not had two such streaks in the same season since 2010-11.

Down On The Right - The Caps have scored three or more goals in each of their last nine games - their longest streak since the middle of last season - despite playing without top six forward T.J. Oshie for the entirety of that stretch, and playing without top six forward Evgeny Kuznetsov for six of those games.
Kuznetsov is back in the lineup now, but Oshie is still missing; he is back home in Washington and he skated on his own at Arlington's MedStar Capitals Iceplex early Thursday, a good sign for his ongoing recovery from an upper body injury sustained in Winnipeg on Nov. 14.
For the first time since the tail end of the 2014-15 season, Caps winger Tom Wilson will miss a game because of injury, an upper body injury sustained in Tuesday's loss in Vegas. Wilson has missed games because of league suspension, but he hasn't missed time because of injury since an offseason ankle injury caused him to miss the first month of the '14-15 season.
When the Caps were playing without both Kuznetsov and Oshie, their top six depth was challenged at a couple of different positions, center and right wing. But with both Oshie and Wilson missing from the lineup, each of the Caps' top two right wingers is missing.
Brett Connolly bumped up to the second line in Oshie's absence and has been playing well of late, with a goal and five points in his last five games. He has also meshed well with Jakub Vrana and Kuznetsov, a combination rarely seen until these last few games.
Andre Burakovsky will occupy the right side of the Caps' top line tonight against the Coyotes, skating with Ovechkin and Backstrom. Burakovsky has top-six caliber speed and skill, but injuries have short-circuited his progress in recent seasons, and his production hasn't always been consistent.
"I've used him a couple of times - in game - with those two," says Caps coach Todd Reirden of slotting Burakovsky on the top line. "I think it adds a speed element. As we went through without Tom the last time, I was trying to find the right guy that fits there, but also gives us a strong four lines, especially on the road, that we can have a little bit of an easier time with our match-ups."
Burakovsky has four goals and seven points in 27 games this season, but his ice time is down two and a half minutes a night from last season, and with 32 shots on net, he is not getting pucks to the net as frequently as he did earlier in his career.
"I think I've been playing good," says Burakovsky. "I'm doing all the right things if you look really closely at the game. I'm not drifting away from the game as much as I did maybe two years ago, and even if I don't produce the amount of points that people expect and I expect of myself, I still think my game has been way better overall than in the past couple of years."
Young and skilled players such as Burakosvky come up through the ranks as offensive catalysts who are expected to score goals and put up points. When the goals and points don't come as frequently at the NHL level, some of those players can get down on themselves and believe that they're not helping the team. It's important for guys like Burakovsky and Jakub Vrana to realize that they can have a positive impact on a game even on nights when they aren't on the scoresheet.
"Obviously there has been a lot of games this year without points," says Burakovsky, "but I'm not focusing on that. I think in the past, I could be a little bit more mad at me, but these days not at all. If I'm playing a good game, I'm happy with it. Even if I score or not, it doesn't matter. As long the team wins and I have a good game, I'm always happy."

In The Nets - Pheonix Copley will be in goal for Washington on Thursday night against the Coyotes. Copley has won five of his last six decisions, and he is 5-2-1 on the season with a 3.06 GAA and an .899 save pct. Four of Copley's five wins have come on the road this season, including each of his last three. He will be making his first career appearance against the Coyotes.
Arizona started the season with Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper as its netminding tandem. But with both goalies on injured reserve, the Coyotes have had to rely on rookie Adin Hill and they've claimed Calvin Pickard off waivers from Philadelphia to serve as Hill's understudy.
Hill has stepped in and done fabulously while Raanta and Kuemper recuperate, winning each of his last four appearances. In five games this season (three starts), Hill is 4-0-0 with an 0.56 GAA and a .977 save pct. The 22-year-old was the Coyotes' third-round choice (76th overall) in the 2015 Draft, and he is the first netminder chosen in that draft to play in the NHL.
Hill will be getting his fourth straight start and will be appearing in his sixth straight game; he has stopped 85 of the 87 shots he has faced with the Coyotes this season. Hill made his NHL debut on Oct. 17, 2017 and got into four games with Arizona last season.
All Lined Up -This is how we expect the Caps and the Coyotes will line up when they meet for the second and final time this season on Thursday night at Gila River Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 65-Burakovsky
13-Vrana, 92-Kuznetsov, 10-Connolly
18-Stephenson, 20-Eller, 25-Smith-Pelly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 72-Boyd
Defensemen
6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
34-Siegenthaler, 29-Djoos
Goaltenders
1-Copley
70-Holtby
Injuries
43-Wilson (upper body)
44-Orpik (lower body)
77-Oshie (upper body)
Scratches
22-Bowey
ARIZONA
Forwards
17-Galchenyuk, 8-Schmaltz, 9-Keller
14-Panik, 21-Stepan, 36-Fischer
29-Kempe, 15-Richardson 13-Hinostroza
67-Crouse, 25-Cousins, 45-Archibald
Defensemen
23-Ekman-Larsson, 44-Connauton
6-Chychrun, 4-Hjalmarsson
33-Goligoski, 82-Oesterle
Goaltenders
31-Hill
30-Pickard
Injuries
18-Dvorak (pectoral surgery)
23-Demers (knee)
32-Raanta (lower body)
35-Kuemper (lower body)
40-Grabner (upper body)
Scratches
46-Lyubushkin
83-Garland