shavings sens

Get Your Business Straight – As they prepare to take on the Senators in Ottawa tonight, the Caps sit atop the Metropolitan Division, the Eastern Conference and yes, Virginia, even the NHL standings (.716 points percentage), and with the fewest regulation losses (10) in the League. But when you chat them up or you listen to Caps coach Spencer Carbery talk about his team, you’d think they are flailing and vying to churn their way up the standings, as they were a year ago at this time.

To their credit, Carbery and the Caps realize that no one grows up dreaming of being in first place in anything after just 44 games of an 82-game season, and that what really matters to them is still months down the road. And for them to blithely ignore what’s going on under the hood – while the “check engine” light is on – in the midst of what has been a successful stretch of hockey results wise, would be foolish.

“I think that’s what helps with being a process driven staff and people inside of our locker room though, is because we have lofty goals, but we also are very grounded in the day-by-day process of how we’re going to reach those goals,” asserts Carbery. “And if you just isolate in on the game that we just had and what went well, okay, ‘Here’s what went well, and here’s what we’ve got to do better.’ And then you just keep doing that, game after game after game.

“Even though we’ve won games, there are processes inside of all of those games. And it’s like, ‘Oooh, we’ve got to be better in this area, our forecheck has to be better here, we’ve got to be holding onto the puck here, we’re defending [too much].’ All those processes, even though points are accumulated, we know that we are a team that can go on a playoff run, and play in the playoffs, and earn a high seed, and win a division, and all the exterior stuff that we don’t talk about and even look at. You better be controlling play, and you better be doing the things that make you an effective hockey team to generate chances and limit chances and do all the stuff that you guys know. And if we are not doing that, shame on us if we’re just looking at the standings and looking at the results.”

Like most good teams at this stage of the season, the Caps are seeking to build and improve upon their game, and to buff and polish it to the point that they feel supremely confident with it come April when the playoffs begin.

“I think it's a good problem to have,” says Caps center Dylan Strome. “And it definitely feels like we feel like that in the room, too. We're winning games, but we're not as happy as we [could be]. I can only imagine our reaction if we were doing this last year; this room would have been in flames, we would have been so happy.

“But it’s just a different vibe right now, and I think that's a good thing. I feel like we know we can beat any team in the league when we play well, and I feel like we can beat most teams in the league when we're playing average, so that's a good problem to have. We know we got we know the way we can play, and we've shown it for long stretches of the season. And I thought [Tuesday’s win over Anaheim] was probably a step in the right direction to get back to that.

“But at the same time, what happens when you start playing really well and you lose five in a row? Like, then what? Then what problems would you have? It's a bit of both ways; I think you can look at it positively or negatively, and I think the players try to look at it positively. The coach's job is to get us to play the way he wants us to play, and we've done a little bit better job of that. But ultimately, it's his job to get us to play the way we played early November and mid-November, and on the dad's trip. That’s when – no matter what, even if we scored on our own net – we knew we were going to win the game.”

They may not look like they did in November, but the results have been similar. And they’re actively trying to get back to playing the way they did in November, when the results were excellent, and they were also pleased with their play. Until they can get there, getting good results – they’re 5-0-3 in their last eight games – will remain a first world problem.

Nic Dowd said it best after Tuesday’s win: “There's something to say about teams that can work through rough patches and still collect points.”

Digging For Fire – Without the production they’ve received from Strome and Connor McMichael this season, the Caps would be nowhere near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. For much of the first half of the season, Strome and McMichael were consistent presences on the scoresheet for Washington.

Both Strome and McMichael went over a month into the season before being held without a point in consecutive games, and Strome rolled up 11 multi-point games before the end of November; McMichael had six such games over the same span.

Washington’s team scoring at 5-on-5 has been in decline for about six weeks now; and that’s been reflected in Strome and McMichael’s individual numbers as well. Through the end of November, Washington led the NHL with 69 goals at 5-on-5 in 24 games. Since then, the Caps have managed to score 36 goals at 5-on-5 in their last 20 games, and they’re tied for 21st in the circuit over that span.

Strome enters tonight’s game with one goal – a power-play strike – in his last 14 games and just one multi-point game since the start of December. McMichael comes into tonight’s game – his 200th in the NHL – with a goal and four points in his last dozen games. McMichael’s lone goal during that stretch also came on the power play.

Both players are currently skating on the same line – with Tom Wilson – and both are trying to break through and get back to delivering offense with more regularity. Both are also taking a more mature approach to the situation than they might have as younger players.

“I think my mentality right now is just sticking with it,” says McMichael. “I think in the past, if I was in this situation, I would try forcing pucks and getting a little too cute. But now I would like to say my game is mature enough where, when I'm not creating the offense that I want, I'm able to start blocking shots and laying the body. I know I'm not the biggest guy, but at least getting a few bumps and just doing the little things on the ice that – like good karma – will come back around, and hopefully you'll find a puck late in the crease or whatever it is to get out of the slump. But for me, I just keep working hard and doing the little things right and trying to contribute in other ways that that I can without putting the puck in the back of the net.”

With nearly 500 NHL games under his belt, Strome has a longer résumé in the League and a bit more experience in trying to work his way through occasional patches of difficulty. And Strome – the team’s leading power play scorer by far with 19 points – is still producing with regularity on Washington’s extra-man unit.

Since play continued after the NHL’s three-day holiday hiatus in late December, Strome has factored in on eight of Washington’s nine power-play goals (one goal, seven assists). The only extra-man tally Strome was not involved in over that span was an unassisted goal.

“I think it definitely changes in the sense that [I realize] the chances are going to come,” says Strome. “I feel like before – maybe in my earlier my career – I feel like I would have been pressing too much 5-on-5, and that's when you're like a big-time negative player. I’m trying to stay patient, just trying to create some chances without giving up much on the back end.

“I feel like our team is playing a certain way where we feel like we’re going to win every game, and so we feel confident. And you don't want to be the reason why you went on a couple game losing streak, because you're not scoring at 5-on-5 and then you're also giving [goals] up at 5-on-5. And when we've had lines not working out, other lines have stepped up the whole year from the beginning right to now, so you don't want to be the line that's out there for a couple goals against, and you're also not scoring. It's different if you're scoring and you're also on for goals against, because it kind of balances out. But you definitely don't want to be not scoring and on the ice for goals against.

“So I am trying to just stay patient and trying to out-chance the line we're against for most of the game. I think our chances last game were 10 to 10, against the other line. And obviously, neither team had goals when we were on the ice. So any game that we win, I would think that is a positive right now.”

We all know that both Strome and McMichael will be heard from – and frequently – over the remainder of the season. It’s just a matter of time.

Sometime To Return – Jakob Chychrun was born and raised in Florida, but his family has longtime ties to the Ottawa area where his dad Jeff played minor hockey in nearby Nepean, where the likes of Steve Yzerman and Jeff Brown – briefly a Capital – also played.

The Senators obtained Chychrun in a deal with Arizona, and the swap was a bit of a head-scratcher, given that the Sens already had emerging studs in Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot on the left side, and Erik Brannstrom as well.

Although he was a member of the Senators for less than 18 months and played only 94 games with Ottawa – including all 82 games last season – Chychrun was pleased to be able to play here for the time that he did.

“It was great,” says Chychrun. “Just having lots of family here and them being able to come and watch me every night, and on off days spending time with family and loved ones. Not everybody gets to play in a spot where they’re that close to home, so it was a very special time for my family and I, and I’m glad I got to experience that with them.”

The Caps arrived in Ottawa late Wednesday afternoon, and Chychrun was able to spend last night with family and friends ahead of tonight’s game with the Sens.

“I went to my aunt’s house for dinner,” says Chychrun. “She hosted everyone: my grandpa, my sister, her husband, some cousins. And it was great, just a great dinner, great time with them. We just played some cards after dinner; my grandpa can’t go without a little competition. It was a nice, fun night out.”

In The Nets – Logan Thompson becomes the first Caps netminder to start three consecutive contests this season when he takes the crease tonight in Ottawa. Thompson will be seeking his 20th victory of the season tonight; he enters with a 19-2-3 record, and he has won each of his last seven starts. Finally, Thompson comes into tonight’s game on the heels of his first shutout with the Capitals; he blanked Anaheim on 19 shots Tuesday night in DC.

In four career appearances (three starts) against Ottawa, Thompson is 3-0-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .929 save pct.

For the Sens, Leevi Merilainen is the likely starter tonight. A third-round pick (71st overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft – a fertile draft for the Sens that also brought Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson and Ridley Greig to Ottawa – Merilainen is in his third season as a North American pro. He got his first taste of NHL action in 2022-23, getting into two games (0-1-1) with the Sens, but has been excellent for the Sens recently, now that he has had some AHL seasoning.

Linus Ullmark has been sidelined with an upper body injury for the better part of a month now, and after deploying both Mats Soogaard and Anton Forsberg without much success, the Sens turned to Merilainen. The 22-year-old Finnish netminder has won five of his seven starts for Ottawa in 2024-25, and he carries an impressive three-game winning streak into tonight’s game. Merilainen’s streak is impressive because it was achieved in a span of four nights and includes a pair of shutouts. And like Thompson, Merilainen comes into tonight’s contest on the heels of a shutout in his previous start, a 24-save whitewashing of the Islanders in New York on Tuesday.

Merilainen will be making his first career appearance against Washington.

All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Senators might look on Thursday night in Ottawa:

WASHINGTON

Forwards

21-Protas, 80-Dubois, 8-Ovechkin

24-McMichael, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson

16-Raddysh, 20-Eller, 53-Frank

22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 88-Mangiapane

Defensemen

38-Sandin, 74-Carlson

42-Fehervary, 3-Roy

6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk

Goaltenders

48-Thompson

31-Shepard

Extras

13-Vrana

27-Alexeyev

52-McIlrath

Out/Injured

15-Milano (upper body)

19-Backstrom (hip)

77-Oshie (back)

79-Lindgren (upper body)

OTTAWA

Forwards

7-Tkachuk, 9-Norris, 19-Batherson

28-Giroux, 18-Stutzle, 81-Gaudette

21-Cousins, 12-Pinto, 71-Greig

15-Highmore, 38-Ostapchuk, 22-Amadio

Defensemen

85-Sanderson, 2-Zub

37-Sebrango, 3-Jensen

43-Kleven, 33-Matinpalo

Goaltenders

1-Merilainen

31-Forsberg

Extras

17-MacEwen

Out/Injured

23-Hamonic (lower body)

24-Bernard-Docker (lower body)

35-Ullmark (upper body)

51-Reinhardt (upper body)

57-Perron (upper body)

72-Chabot (upper body)

73-Gregor (lower body)