SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes From Caps' Morning Skate

Everybody's Hurting - After three straight games of playing a skater short, the Caps are hopeful of having a full complement of 18 skaters tonight when they take the ice for their 2022-23 road finale against the Bruins in Boston. For the third straight game, Washington will inject a recall from AHL Hershey into its lineup, but this time each of the 17 skaters who played the previous game appear to be healthy enough to suit up for this one.

"It's the same lineup," says Caps' coach Peter Laviolette, referring to the 17 skaters who helped the Caps to a 5-2 win over the New York islanders in Washington on Monday night. "We're working through some things in the room, and there will be an announcement coming up here in probably 30 minutes or so. But we're working through some things in the room, and it's safe to say that none of the guys who were out [Monday] night are here."
The recall of forward Henrik Borgstrom from AHL Hershey is the announcement to which Laviolette referred, and Borgstrom is expected to make his Capitals debut tonight in Boston. The 25-year-old native of Helsinki, Finland was a first-round choice (23rd overall) of the Florida Panthers in the 2016 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-3, 199-pound center was drafted out of Denver University, and he has totaled 13 goals and 26 points in 110 career NHL games, scattered over four seasons with Florida and Chicago.
With Hershey this season, Borgstrom has eight goals and 21 points in 54 games.
In Monday's game with New York, the short-staffed Caps grabbed a two-goal lead over the Islanders in the game's first 63 seconds and expanded that advantage to 3-0, which proved to be enough offense to get Darcy Kuemper (38 saves) his 22nd win of the season.
The desperate Islanders - who came to the District in control of their playoff destiny but left town without it - fired pucks from everywhere, teeing up a total of 94 shots on the night. Forty of those were on net; the Caps blocked 27 and the Isles also missed the mark 27 times.
"The guys handled whatever adversity came their way tonight," said Laviolette after Monday's win, which halted a six-game winless streak. "I thought they handled it pretty good. I thought we got a good roll on the bench, and being a man short, we didn't have to overtax the forwards that much, especially with a game [Tuesday] night.
"It was nice to get the three-goal lead, with the game [Tuesday] night just to be able to roll the lines and try and push through. It would have been nice to get the one and the one after that, but defensively we were doing the right things to keep it at 3-0.
"It was good for the guys to get a win. Good for morale inside the room."
Record Company -Two months ago today, the Caps were here in Boston for their first game after the All-Star Game/bye week. Washington forged a 2-1 victory over the Bruins here on that Saturday afternoon, after which the two teams diverged like ships passing in the night. The Caps went on to lose six straight, tumbling from playoff contention and trading away five regular players before the March 3 traded deadline. Meanwhile, Boston reeled off 10 straight victories in the immediate aftermath of that loss to the Caps, and the Bruins enter tonight's game with an NHL record of 63 victories this season. They notched No. 63 in Philadelphia on Sunday night, and with two games left, the B's are now seeking to nail down the all-time NHL record for most points in a season. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens' mark of 132 points (60-8-12) is teetering after nearly half a century in the books; the Bruins enter tonight's tilt with 131 points.
"Those are dream seasons," says Laviolette of the Bruins' remarkable '22-23 season. "When you find yourself just winning night after night, you almost forget what losing feels like and everybody comes to the rink and they're in a good mood. It's a pretty special season and they're certainly in one right now."
When Washington won that game here two months ago - one of only four regulation losses the Bruins have suffered in 40 home games this season - Caps winger Craig Smith was on the other side, skating for the B's He came to Washington less than two weeks later, in the first of four trades the Caps swung before the deadline, a Feb. 23 deal that sent defenseman Dmitry Orlov and winger Garnet Hathaway to Beantown. Smith spent the better part of three seasons with the Bruins before the trade, notching 33 goals and 78 points in his 170 games in the black and gold.
Smith has some good perspective on what elevated the Bruins from a solid 107-point team last season to the NHL record books a year later.
"We got a face back in the room when I was here, who had been gone for a year," says Smith, referring to veteran Boston center David Krejci. "Krej came back, and there was a lot of excitement around that. [Patrice Bergeron] decided to have one more year, and it's obviously in the back of your mind, putting your best foot forward for him especially. They have good leadership in the room, and it was a fantastic thing to be a part of and I'm lucky enough to be able to see something like that.
"All the guys could hang out with everybody and it just seems like such a welcoming environment, and everybody wants everybody to do well. It's a pretty special group."
On Monday night in Washington, Smith supplied the game-winning goal in the Caps' victory, netting goal No. 199 of his NHL career. Tonight, he'll go up against his former teammates for the first time, as will Orlov and Hathaway.
"It'll be fun," says Smith. "I'm friends with a lot of those guys, not just in hockey but outside as well. It'll be interesting to see. I was on the other side of it before, and all of those guys are great guys. It'll be a fun game, and I'm sure it will be a little bit emotional at times. But it's a fun building to play in, so it will be good to be back."
In The Nets -Charlie Lindgren is the expected starter for Washington tonight. In his most recent start against Florida on Saturday night in the District, Lindgren made 33 saves in a hard luck loss to the Panthers, who snapped a 2-2 tie with exactly a minute remaining in regulation and went on to victory.
Seeking his 14th victory of the season, Lindgren will be making his first career appearance against the Bruins.
We are expecting to see Linus Ullmark in net for the Bruins tonight. Ullmark is seeking his 40th victory of the season tonight, looking to match the Boston fracnhise record for victories set by ex-Caps goalie Pete Peeters. Back in 1982-83, Peeters racked up a 40-12-9 mark for Bruins, who were coached by Hall of Fame goaltender Gerry Cheevers in those days.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Ullmark is 5-5-1 in 11 appearances, with a 2.88 GAA and an .898 save pct.
All Lined Up - Here's how the Caps and Bruins could look for Tuesday's game in Boston:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
73-Sheary, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 19-Backstrom, 16-Smith
91-Snively, 92-Kuznetsov, 13-Borgstrom
47-Malenstyn, 59-Protas, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
38-Sandin, 3-Jensen
52-Irwin, 27-Alexeyev
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
35-Kuemper
Healthy Extras
None
Injured/out
8-Ovechkin (upper body)
26-Dowd (upper body)
28-Brown (lower body)
39-Mantha (lower body)
57-van Riemsdyk (upper body)
62-Hagelin (hip)
77-Oshie (upper body)
BOSTON
Forwards
63-Marchand, 37-Bergeron, 74-DeBrusk
59-Bertuzzi, 18-Zacha, 88-Pastrnak
71-Hall, 13-Coyle 11-Frederic
10-Greer, 92-Nosek, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
81-Orlov, 73-McAvoy
27-Lindholm, 25-Carlo
48-Grzelcyk, 75-Clifton
Goaltenders
35-Ullmark
1-Swayman
Healthy Extras
None
Injured/out
17-Foligno (lower body)
28-Forbort (lower body)
46-Krejci (lower body)