SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Loving Cup - Coming to Vegas will always be special for the Caps, who first hoisted hockey's holy grail here just under four years ago following their victory in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 7, 2018.

Tonight, the Caps are here for the first time in 26 months, seeking a victory that would ensure them of returning home with a winning record on their current five-game road trip. After falling in the journey opener in Toronto, the Caps have since authored wins in Montreal and Colorado, respectively. Their 3-2 Monday night win over the Avalanche in Denver is one of their more complete all around team performances of the season.
Washington is still seeking its first ever regular season victory here in Vegas; the Caps are 0-3-0 here in their three regular season visits and they went 2-1 here during the 2018 Cup Final.
Winning here tonight won't be easy either; the Golden Knights are in a desperate situation as they vie for a fifth playoff berth in as many seasons in the NHL. Heading into tonight's slate of NHL activity, the Golden Knights are four points behind Dallas for the second wild card berth in the Western Conference. Vegas and Vancouver are even at 87 points, and the Stars are sitting with 91, plus Dallas holds a game in hand on both the Knights and the Canucks.
With five games remaining, the Knights know they likely need to run the table the rest of the way to have a chance, and they know they'll need help from outside sources along the way. After tonight, all the Knights can do for the next three nights is sit around and watch the scoreboard. After facing the Caps, Vegas will be idle for three nights before it hosts San Jose in its home finale for 2021-22 on Sunday. Then the Knights take to the road for a three-game, season-ending trip.
"The carryover part would be good," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "We played a game that we were happy with against a good team. It's going to be a really tough game - probably tougher - tonight, just based on the fact that they need to win, and they've come out publicly and said that, which is the truth; there's only four or five games left in the season for everybody. I think a big part of it is always recognizing where your opponent is."
It was devotion to details that helped the Caps become the first Eastern Conference team to defeat the Avalanche on home ice and in regulation this season, and Washington will need to supplement those details by approaching Vegas' expected level of desperation tonight.
"I think we have to show up and play hard," says Laviolette. "But if we're not detailed or if we turn the puck over or if we don't put a priority on defense, you won't like the result, either. It could end up being a close game where both teams play hard, but at the end, it's still what you do when you're on the ice and that's what I really liked about [Monday] night. It was complete with everything, so we've just got to get back to that."
Connection - Washington has won six of its last seven games, and it has had a high level of offensive contribution from its blueline corps over that stretch, getting a total of 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) from its defensemen over that span.
With 15 goals and 68 points on the season, John Carlson is leading that charge from the back end, as he has for the last decade or so in the District. Carlson carries a seven-game point streak (four goals, nine assists) and a seven-game assist streak into tonight's game. But each of the other six defenders who have been in the lineup over that span have also picked up points, and five of the seven blueliners the Caps have deployed over that span have found the back of the net.
For Laviolette, the offense is a byproduct of cleaner breakouts and more cohesion in the process of moving the puck up the ice.
"I think that's a big part of it," says the Caps bench boss. "It doesn't even come in [offensive] contributions sometimes; that is part of it. But moving it out of our end efficiently and staying connected, and the little plays that you make on a breakout, last game they were really good. And so that's the start of the offense.
"Sometimes you have to start at your goal line or behind your net with some really good passes and being in support of each other and quick plays, and then a sprint to the offense and the decisions through the neutral zone. And I think our defense as a whole have done a pretty good job of that."
Carlson reiterates some of Laviolette's thoughts while expanding upon them, and it's no accident that both used the word "connected." With a 15-5-1 mark since the beginning of March, the Caps have looked more connected in most of their games over that longer stretch, especially when compared to how they were playing in January and February.
"I think it's one of those things with how we were playing and how we are playing now," says Carlson. "That's a big difference, and that was kind of the main thing that we said, was playing more tight and connected, whether that's in the [offensive] zone or the [defensive] zone or neutral zone, whatever it us - getting guys back together, getting guys up the ice together. I think that just goes hand in hand when we do have the numbers everywhere like we have, it's easier to make plays, there's more plays open, and it's easier to find better plays.
"And the same thing goes on the offensive side of the puck. We're getting it in better than we have, and we're getting more zone time. We're getting more looks, it feels like, and that's just part of that connected game that we talk about is just playing together. And the [defense] are always a part of the attack, whether it's coming out of the [defensive] zone or in the [offensive] zone."
Carlson is two points shy of reaching the 70-point level for the third time in his career. Dmitry Orlov has established career highs in goals and points this season. Nick Jensen is a point shy of his single-season career high of 20 points. Justin Schultz has reached the 20-point plateau for the seventh time in his career. Martin Fehervary has scored more goals (eight) than any rookie Caps defenseman in more than a quarter of a century, and Trevor van Riemsdyk has matched his single-season career high of 16 points.
Although their primary job is to help keep the puck out of their own net, the Caps' blueline group has helped fuel a potent attack all season, but especially of late.
In The Nets - Two nights after picking up his 23rd win of the season, Ilya Samsonov will be back in the nets for Washington tonight. Samsonov stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced against the Avalanche, and his teammates also got in the way of 23 shots in support of him.
Samsonov has won six of his last seven starts, and since the beginning of March he is 6-1-1 in nine appearances with a 3.13 GAA and an .884 save pct. He will be making his first career start against Vegas tonight.
Following Monday's 3-2 loss here to the New Jersey Devils, Vegas coach Pete DeBoer was a bit critical of goaltender Robin Lehner for a couple of the goals he surrendered in that contest. But the Golden Knights are all in on Lehner; he will start tonight against the Caps.
Lehner has blanked the Caps in each of his last two starts; one with Vegas earlier this season on Jan. 24 in Washington, and the previous one when he was still with the Islanders, on April 6, 2019 in the finale of the 2018-19 season, also in the District.
Prior to those two whitewashes of Washington, Lehner was 1-3-1 in his first five career starts with the Caps, during his days with Ottawa and Buffalo. All told, he is 3-3-1 with a 1.86 GAA and a .939 save pct. lifetime against the Capitals.
All Lined Up - Here's how we expect the Caps and the Golden Knights to look on Wednesday night in Las Vegas:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
90-Johansson, 19-Backstrom, 73-Sheary
39-Mantha, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
22-Larsson, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
57-van Riemsdyk, 2-Schultz
Goaltenders
30-Samsonov
41-Vanecek
Extras
6-Kempny
24-McMichael
45-Jonsson-Fjallby
52-Irwin
Injured/Out
62-Hagelin (upper body)
91-Snively (upper body)
VEGAS
Forwards
81-Marchessault, 9-Eichel, 61-Stone
67-Pacioretty, 20-Stephenson, 63-Dadonov
26-Janmark, 71-Karlsson, 22-Amadio
15-Leschyshyn, 10-Roy, 55-Kolesar
Defensemen
3-McNabb, 27-Theodore
17-Hutton, 7-Pietrangelo
23-Martinez, 2-Whitecloud
Goaltenders
90-Lehner
36-Thompson
Extras
52-Coghlan
Injured/Out
14-Hague (undisclosed)
19-Smith (knee)
21-Howden (upper body)
28-Carrier (lower body)
39-Brossoit (undisclosed)
41-Patrick (undisclosed)