SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 4/9

Look Sharp - Facing the Sabres on Friday night in Buffalo, the Caps are seeking to recapture the sharpness and the edge that they've played with for the better part of the last two months. Washington leads the NHL with 97 goals at 5-on-5, but coming into Friday's game with the Sabres, the Caps are without a 5-on-5 goal for the better part of seven straight periods, a span of 134 minutes and 29 seconds.

The Caps cruised through March with an 11-3-0 record, but they've dropped four of their last six as they prepare to take on the Sabres, and their 5-on-5 game has deteriorated over that period. They've surrendered 19 goals against at 5-on-5 in those six games, most in the NHL over that span. And although they still lead the NHL with 97 goals at 5-on-5 this season, they've netted only eight goals at even strength in their last half dozen games, tied for 20th in the League.
"I think we've got to play to our strengths," says Caps defenseman Zdeno Chara. "There are areas where we can definitely be better, either at protecting the puck or being more connected as a unit of five. I think it's simple; it's a shot mentality and when you shoot pucks most of the time it creates a good offense. Whether the shot is going in or there's a rebound or, you are constantly putting pressure on teams by shot attempts, I think we got away that a little bit."
A week ago tonight in New Jersey, the Caps played the back half of a set of back-to-back games against the Devils in New Jersey. After falling 8-4 to the Isles in New York the night before, the Capitals were looking for a bounce back outing, and they got it. They made better decisions at both bluelines and tightened up in the neutral zone and wound up on the right side of a 2-1 overtime decision over the Devils. They generated 46 shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the process, their highest total in the last nine games.
After last night's home ice loss to Boston, Caps coach Peter Laviolette discussed his team's decision making - particularly in the first period - and how it was leading to them spending more time in the defensive zone and not enough time in the offensive zone, and he discussed it further before Friday's game in Buffalo.
"The chances at the end of the first period last night are 8-4 and the attempts on net are 28-14 or whatever they are," says Laviolette. "Typically, you're not going to like your period. And it tells you that you're in the wrong zone, and now you've got to figure out why you're in the wrong zone. And so for me, it was pretty obvious and pretty clear cut, and I thought the guys did a better job in the second and third period of making the right decisions and making the right plays."
Laviolette also sees this problem as just another one of those issues that crop up periodically over the course of a season.
"Those decisions come as you cross the red line, and those are the things that we talked about," says Laviolette. "I think things always pop up through the course of the year and so this is where we're at right now. It could be slow starts, or late leads, or it could be the power play or the penalty kill. It could be defensive zone coverage or your lack of production. There are always things that pop up.
"I think the thing that you need to do is address them and continue to harp on them until they get better. Once we get it cleaned up, we're going to sit here in this conversation and you're going to ask me what's wrong with these [different] problems, and I'll try to have an answer for you."
Fresh Blood - For more than three weeks now, the Caps have faced only three different opponents: the New York Rangers and Islanders and the New Jersey Devils. The Caps are done with the Devils for the season now and they'll face the Islanders in three straight games later this month to finish off the season's series. The Caps play the Rangers twice more, making their final road trip of the season to the Big Apple in the first week of May.
Friday's game against the Sabres is the first between the two teams in three and a half weeks; the Caps and Sabres will meet again in Washington in less than a week. Thursday's game against the Bruins marked the first time Caps faced them in more than a month, and the Caps will face the B's again on Sunday night in Boston.
After three weeks of facing only three different teams, the Caps will face a new group of teams for a few weeks. Beginning with Thursday night's game against Boston, Washington plays seven straight games against only the Bruins, Sabres and Flyers.
"Yeah I think so," says Caps defenseman John Carlson, asked whether it's nice to have a fresh trio of teams to focus on. "I think especially from the film breakdown that we like so much in the beginning, it's a little redundant now with the same clips and that sort of thing, but it's learning experiences.
"We knew that nothing about this year was going to be normal, so that's just part of what we do. It's not like we're spending any more or any less time than we normally would, breaking things down and talking about certain things, but it would be nice to get a little flavor in there."
Heading into Friday's game in Buffalo, the Caps have 16 games left this season. Fourteen of those games are against teams that still harbor playoff hopes; the two remaining games against the Sabres are the exception.
"I definitely think it helps when you're playing important games against teams near the top of the standings, to keep you sharp, and to keep you sharp mentally, too," says Caps center Lars Eller. "I think you just need to find a way to look at it that motivates you, either way."
In The Nets - Vitek Vanecek gets the net tonight for Washington, starting for the sixth time in the Caps' first seven games against the Sabres this season. With 15 victories on the season, Vanecek leads all NHL rookies and is tied for seventh overall.
Over his last 16 outings (15 starts), Vanecek is 10-4-1 with a shutout (against the Sabres in Buffalo on March 15), a 2.20 GAA and a .918 save pct. He has permitted one or zero goals against in seven of his last 15 starts, including each of the last two in succession.
In his five starts against Buffalo this season, Vanecek is 4-0-1 with a shutout, a 1.55 GAA and a .947 save pct.
For the Sabres, we are expecting to see veteran journeyman Dustin Tokarski in goal on Friday. Born on the same exact date (Sept. 16, 1989) as former Caps goalie Braden Holtby, Tokarski has amassed only 38 NHL games and a 10-15-1 record over the years, after being Tampa Bay's fifth-round choice (122nd overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Tokarski is 0-3-1 with a 3.79 GAA and a .904 save pct. in four appearances this season, and he is seeking his first NHL victory since Dec. 8, 2015 when he defeated Ottawa while he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Tokarski is 1-0-1 with a 1.86 GAA and a .936 save pct. in two appearances.
All Lined Up - Here is how we expect the Caps and the Sabres to look on Friday night in Buffalo:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
73-Sheary, 19-Backstrom, 10-Sprong
13-Vrana, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
62-Hagelin, 26-Dowd, 21-Hathaway
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
4-Dillon, 2-Schultz
33-Chara, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
41-Vanecek
30-Samsonov
Out
6-Kempny (Achilles' tendon)
Extras
28-Carr
34-Siegenthaler
57-van Riemsdyk
Taxi Squad
14-Panik (F)
23-Sgarbossa (F)
40-Pilon (F)
31-Anderson (G)
BUFFALO
Forwards
68-Olofsson, 23-Reinhart, 21-Okposo
74-Asplund, 37-Mittelstadt, 72-Thompson
53-Skinner, 15-Sheahan
13-Rieder, 20-Eakin, 25-Routsalainen
Defensemen
78-Bryson, 55-Ristolainen
62-Montour, 33-Miller
26-Dahlin, 10-Jokiharju
44-Irwin
Goaltenders
31-Tokarski
35-Ullmark
Out
3-Borgen (forearm)
9-Eichel (upper body)
19-McCabe (knee)
24-Cozens (upper body)
27-Lazar (lower body)
28-Girgensons (hamstring)
40-Hutton (lower body)
Extras
4-Hall
17-Fogarty