SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 3/5

Do It Again -Two nights after claiming their fourth straight victory with a 2-1 shootout win over the Bruins in Boston, the Capitals face the B's again on Friday night in the fourth game of a five-game road trip.

Still a few games shy of the midpoint of the truncated 2020-21 NHL season, the Caps are one of five teams clustered within five points of one another at the top of the East Division standings. Only four of those teams will make the Stanley Cup playoffs. Washington sits atop that quintet of clubs, tied with the New York Islanders but holding a game in hand on the Isles. Boston is three points back but has two games in hand on the Capitals.
"In our division, the points are really tight and especially when teams have less games and you're not sure where you're really at," says Caps left wing Jakub Vrana. "Every game is important, especially against a team like Boston; they're hot and they play really good hockey."
While Boston has been hot for most of this season, they've cooled of late. Wednesday's loss was the Bruins' fifth in their last seven games (2-4-1).
"I think we're not playing at a high enough pace," says Boston coach Bruce Cassidy. "If there was an easy answer. I'd give it to you. But some of it is personnel that we've changed, so we've got to get them playing at a higher pace that we're used to. We've had some new people in our lineup; some of it we've tried to emphasize getting bigger, so you maybe lose a little pace. And some of it is just our play that I haven't stressed enough.
"When you're trying to adjust for opponents every night and you're trying to do certain things, maybe you lose track of the forest for the trees at times. Just say, 'Hey, let's get going,' and simplify and get on top of them quicker. I think it's a little bit of everything."
Shootin' For The Moon - While Washington has been the league's stingiest team in terms of shots allowed (25.4 per game) over the last nine games, the Caps could stand to launch a few more pucks at the net themselves. Over that same nine-game stretch, the Capitals' rate of 29.2 shots on net per game ranks 21st in the League.
Caps coach Peter Laviolette has talked about having a "shoot first mindset," and the eye test tells us the Caps are still passing up some looks from good scoring areas.
"We'll talk about it [Thursday] with them and just go over things," said Laviolette immediately after Wednesday's 2-1 win here. "You never know what's going to happen in a game, you really don't. The only thing you can do is address things, and we'll look to attack a little bit more the next game."
Over the last several seasons, the Caps' coaching staff - led by Barry Trotz for four seasons and Todd Reirden for the last two - has favored a "quality over quantity" approach in the attack zone. Caps shooters were judicious in choosing their targets, and they were coached and trained to look to make a play if a high percentage look wasn't available. But there has been a change in philosophy this season.
"It's definitely a different emphasis than what we've been used to over the last four or five years, or since I've been here, both with Barry and Todd," says Caps center Lars Eller. "So yeah, that's a little different. But I also don't think we're passing up the opportunity to shoot all of the time. I think sometimes we're not doing things well enough to give ourselves a chance to shoot.
"We need to do all the other things - we need to play good defense and to execute on plays in the neutral zone so we can get into the offensive zone and even get a chance to get a shot off. It starts in other places, and the end result will be an opportunity to shoot. I think we've got to master all the other things as well before that, but Peter is definitely preaching to us to shoot more."
When the Caps won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18, they did so despite finishing dead last in the league in average number of shots per game. Picking their spots and executing was good enough to win it all then, but they want to deal in volume now.
"Obviously we want to get that shot volume up a little bit," ways Caps right wing T.J. Oshie, "but I think there might have been some confusion that we've cleared up recently about how we want to play in our [defensive] zone and how we want to support each other, and where we want to be when the puck goes to the point. I think everyone is on the same page now and I think it's paying off. You're able to see it through numbers or just through the eye test, watching the game. We're getting a lot more chances and we're holding onto the puck quite a bit more in the [offensive] zone."
Compared to earlier in the season, Washington is getting more time in the offensive zone and fewer of its forays to that end of the rink are "one- or none-and-done" trips.
"We're holding onto pucks a lot more," says Oshie, "we're making more plays, seeing more things and when we're not, we're making the right decision and getting it deep, and then going an forechecking and getting the puck bac, Funny enough, I think offensively we're doing a lot better and that's helping us out in the [defensive] zone. And obviously we have grown defensively as well. But our offensive side of the game and controlling the momentum and controlling the puck has been a lot better."
"I think you have to have good balance in between everything," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "Shots are great. They cause the opponent to be out of position, and after that if you receive the puck again, stuff is going to open up. But that's just the mentality that we have to get used to, and I feel like we're starting to get there. And I also think there has to be a balance, too. You've got to move around in the offensive zone as well."
Boston allows just 26.1 shots on net per night, tied for the fewest in the NHL. There wasn't much time or space for the Caps to pull the trigger in Wednesday's game, and tonight figures to be more of the same. The Caps managed 28 shots on Wednesday, but five of those came in the 3-on-3 overtime.
"We'll sit down with these guys and we'll show the good, the things that we can do better," says Laviolette. "It's going to be a tougher game the next game; they just lost so they'll be more ready to play."
In The Nets - As we near the midway mark of the season, Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek seems to be heating up more with every start. He has been in net for 18 of Washington's 22 games this season and will start again tonight against Boston. In his last seven starts, Vanecek is 5-1-1 with a 1.84 GAA and a .928 save pct. For the first time in his NHL career, Vanecek has yielded two or fewer goals against in three straight games.
In his three career starts against the Bruins, Vanecek is 2-1-0 with a 2.61 GAA and a .915 save pct.
For Boston, Tuukka Rask was a tough luck loser in Wednesday's shootout decision. The veteran Bruins goaltender was aiming for his 300th career NHL victory on Friday night, and wasn't able to get it despite stopping 27 of 28 shots.
Rask will get Friday night off as former Caps goaltender Jaroslav Halak gets the start against Washington in the rematch. Halak has started three of Boston's last 11 games, and seven of its 20 games on the season. He claimed at least a point in each of his first five starts (4-0-1) this season, including a 5-3 win over the Capitals in Washington on Feb. 1.
Halak has dropped each of his last two starts and is seeking his first win since Feb. 10. Lifetime against Washington, he is 10-11-1 with a shutout, a 2.78 GAA and a .902 save pct. in 24 appearances.
All Lined Up - Here is how we expect the Capitals and the Bruins to lineup on Friday night in Boston:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 73-Sheary
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 43-Wilson
14-Panik, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
4-Dillon, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Schultz
33-Chara, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
30-Samsonov
Out
6-Kempny (Achilles' tendon)
Extras
10-Sprong
34-Siegenthaler
57-van Riemsdyk
Taxi Squad
16-Maillet (F)
28-Carr (F)
31-Anderson (G)
64-Pinho (F)
BOSTON
Forwards
63-Marchand, 37-Bergeron, 88-Pastrnak
21-Ritchie, 46-Krejci, 12-Smith
11-Frederic, 23-Studnicka, 74-DeBrusk
10-Bjork, 52-Kuraly, 14-Wagner
Defensemen
67-Zboril, 73-McAvoy
48-Grzelcyk, 25-Carlo
84-Tinordi, 75-Clifton
Goaltenders
41-Rask
40-Halak
Out
13-Coyle (COVID protocol list)
28-Kase (upper body)
55-Lauzon (hand)
86-Miller (knee)
Extras
18-McKegg
27-Moore