SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

All The Best - The Caps take to the road this week in Florida where they will take on a couple of the better teams in the NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. Two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay is up first; the Caps face the Lightning on Monday night in Tampa before going across the state to face Florida on Thursday. The Panthers remain unbeaten in regulation through nine games (8-0-1).

The Lightning is 3-1-0 in its four home games this season and Florida is a perfect 5-0-0 in its home barn in 2021-22.
Bright Side Of The Road -The Caps have played two road games this season, in New Jersey and in Ottawa. But this trip is the first multi-game journey of the season, and it's an all hands on deck trip; even injured players who won't play in these two games are on the trip. With two days between the two games in the Sunshine State, the Caps will have a day off on Tuesday and a practice day on Wednesday, so there is a good opportunity for the boys to get some bonding time in, something they haven't been able to do much of over the last 20 months or so.
"It's Florida; it's nice down here," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I could be biased because I live here. It's just nice to get away as a group; we hadn't done it at all last year. Just looking back at last year, you realize what a grind it was just staying in the hotel. But like I've said, last year we did a great job of getting the season off and getting it done through tough circumstances.
"So this year, it's really nice. We had a couple of one-game trips, but this is an opportunity to come down here and spend some time on the road together. I think it could be good for us."
There is certainly value in having all the players together and able to spend time together, but it's also an opportunity for the younger players on the team to get a taste of what it feels like to play in a hostile and lively environment. Since the last time they've faced the Lightning in Tampa nearly two years ago, the Lightning has hung a pair of Stanley Cup banners from the rafters of Amalie Arena, and the atmosphere in the Tampa building has been electric for more than a few seasons now.
Last season, fans weren't in buildings at all early in the year and they were only permitted in dramatically limited capacities in the latter stages of the campaign and the playoffs. And with all due respect to New Jersey and Ottawa - the destinations for the Caps' aforementioned one-game road trips this season - those buildings and crowds aren't as full and as revved up as some that Washington will visit in the weeks ahead.
"Tampa has quickly become one of the hardest buildings to go into and play," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "And we haven't really experienced that the last year and a half. But we have played some big games there, and it's a fun place to play. It'll be good for the young guys to see the caliber of hockey on the road and it is important to play good hockey on the road. It's something that our team has done pretty well to keep ourselves in a good position throughout the season, is collecting road points.
"It's super important and it'll be good for those guys to see it and to see that a lot more goes into it. We don't get the last change, and I feel like we've been at home quite a bit. It'll be good to get out there and don't think, just play, and hopefully collect some points."
Join The Band - On Monday morning just ahead of today's morning skate, the Caps announced that they've recalled center Aliaksei Protas from AHL Hershey. The 20-year-old center was Washington's third-round choice (91st overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, a draft in which Washington made only four picks.
After taking to the ice with his teammates at Monday's morning skate at Amalie Arena, a beaming Protas met with media.
"It's actually fantastic," says Protas of his recall from the Bears. "Hopefully we will get to the roster today, hopefully we will get a chance.
"I got a call [Sunday] at [noon]. I was getting ready to go to the Hershey Bears game, but I got called up and needed to come here [to Tampa]. I got my flight delayed like three hours, but I don't care about that. I'm just happy to be here."
Protas was with his wife when he got the call from the Capitals, and his first outgoing call was to his parents.
"Mom cried a little bit for sure, she's so happy for me, like my parents and like everybody," says Protas. "Now I'm enjoying every moment here, I'm so happy."
Down a couple of centers on the depth chart because of injuries, it made sense to recall Protas, a big (6-foot-6, 225 pounds), rangy pivot who is also capable of playing on the wing. But Protas' promotion had more to do with merit than position.
"Just talking with [Bears head coach] Scott Allen down in Hershey," says Laviolette, "he's been one of their top forwards. He's big, he's strong, he had a good camp, and he was one of the guys we were looking at as camp progressed. You've got to cut it down to 23 [players] at some point, and so you look for opportunities for these guys to come back and show what they can do."
With both Nicklas Backstrom and Nic Dowd (on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 27 and unavailable until Nov. 4) out for tonight's game, the Caps will be dealing with a dearth of experience in the middle of the ice, aside from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller. When they found themselves in such situations last season, T.J. Oshie occasionally filled in at the center position, but Oshie is also out with a lower body injury.
Protas is the same age as McMichael and is a year older than fellow rookie pivot Hendrix Lapierre, but Protas was able to get 58 games worth of KHL experience last season, totaling 10 goals and 18 points playing with and against men as a 19-year-old with Minsk Dynamo.
"To be honest with you, I think it's better to stay in the KHL than play in the [North American] minors," says Kuznetsov, who spent five seasons skating for Chelyabinsk Traktor before beginning his own NHL career late in the 2013-14 season. "I wish those players could go play in Europe against men, because this is people playing for their jobs, playing for the money.
"It's a different level of compete. I'm not saying the American Hockey League they don't; it's just a different league. I think you can learn that style of hockey, how we play over there, and if you can combine that together, it will help you eventually for sure."
Protas would follow first-rounder Connor McMichael and second-rounder Brett Leason as the third of those four 2019 picks to reach the NHL, all of them doing so in calendar 2021. Defenseman Martin Has was the Caps' fifth-rounder in that Draft; he is playing for Gatineau in the QMJHL this season.
In The Nets -Vitek Vanecek starts tonight against Tampa Bay, starting for the sixth time in Washington's nine games this season. Vanecek started against the Lightning in Washington on Oct. 16, stopping 23 of 24 shots - including several strong second-period saves - and keeping the Caps close in what ended up as a 2-1 overtime loss.
On the season, Vanecek is 2-0-2 with a 2.26 GAA and a .911 save pct. His lone career start against the Lightning came last month in Washington.
Andrej Vasilevskiy is expected to get the net for the Lightning on Monday against the Capitals. He is 4-2-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .911 save pct. on the season to date, and he will be starting for the eighth time in nine games for the Lightning this season.
Lifetime against Washington, Vasilevskiy is 5-6-1 with a 3.45 GAA and a .903 save pct. in a dozen appearances.
All Lined Up - Washington's Monday morning skate was an optional one, so we won't know the actual lineup until warmups. Here's a look at how the Caps and Lightning might look when they hit the ice on Monday night at Tampa's Amalie Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
39-Mantha, 24-McMichael, 10-Sprong
62-Hagelin, 20-Eller, 21-Hathaway
73-Sheary, 59-Protas, 49-Leason/29-Lapierre
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-Schultz
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
30-Samsonov
Extras
38-Cholowski
52-Irwin
Injured
19-Backstrom (hip, week-to-week)
26-Dowd (lower body, day-to-day)
77-Oshie (lower body, week-to-week)
TAMPA BAY
Forwards
17-Killorn, 21-Point, 71-Cirelli
18-Palat, 91-Stamkos, 7-Joseph
14-Maroon, 79-Colton, 10-Perry
12-Barre-Boulet, 41-Bellemare, 16-Raddysh
Defensemen
77-Hedman, 44-Rutta
27-McDonagh, 81-Cernak
98-Sergachev, 29-Sustr
Goaltenders
88-Vasilevskiy
1-Elliott
Extras
13-Katchouk
28-Dumont
52-Foote
Injured
21-Bogosian (lower body)
46-Smith (lower body)
86-Kucherov (lower body)