One Long Saturday Night – The Caps host the New York Rangers tonight at Capital One Arena, the first of four meetings between the two longtime rivals, all of which will take place between now and the middle of January. Immediately after tonight’s game, both teams will hustle out to Dulles to travel for another game on Sunday. The Caps face the Blackhawks in Chicago tomorrow while the Rangers open up a three-game homestand against Los Angeles on Sunday.
Washington has activated T.J. Oshie off injured reserve; after missing each of the last six games with an upper body injury, he returns to the Caps’ lineup tonight. To make room for Oshie on the active roster, the Caps loaned forward Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey.
“It’s tough,” says Oshie of sitting out the last half dozen games. “The injury was maybe at the worst time, with the team going on a road trip right after the match. It always sucks having to stay behind and watch the guys, but I thought I saw some very good play, and some instances where we’ve got to clean things up.
“I think we can be a little more consistent, and not have those lapses in five to 10 minutes where a team really takes it to us, scores a couple of goals, and builds a lot of momentum that’s hard to come back from. Special teams, I think we can do a little better there. But with a day off [on Friday] and meetings this morning, and practice this morning, the boys look rejuvenated and ready to rock.”
In addition to Oshie’s return, there was another positive sign regarding Washington's overall team health on Saturday morning. Max Pacioretty took another significant step in his ongoing recovery from an Achilles’ tear, joining his teammates for Saturday’s morning skate, albeit in a powder blue non-contact jersey.
“We actually talked about having him potentially coming [with us] to Chicago,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery, speaking to Pacioretty’s situation. “We’re going to hold off, just based on numbers. He’ll stay back and be able to skate here. But those conversations are ongoing, whether he goes on the road or stays here, and what’s more beneficial for his preparation of getting ready to play, as he goes through this process.”
The 35-year-old left wing has been limited to 92 games in the past three seasons, but he has netted 46 goals over that span, too. If the Caps are able to add Pacioretty to their lineup within the next couple of weeks, it might make for a much-needed injection of scoring from the left side.
“Today was the first day that I sort of paid attention to him and his drills that he was doing,” says Carbery. “And you can tell the puck comes off his stick a little bit differently. So it will be great to have him in the fold and to be able to add him, and we’ll see how that looks from a line combination standpoint and a power play standpoint. But no question he has shown in the past that he can put the puck in the back of the net.”
Metro Station – Beginning with tonight’s game against the Rangers, the Caps are starting a patch of scheduling that is the most Metro Division heavy and the most travel heavy of any stretch they will face this season. Ten of the Caps’ next 14 games – and 12 of their next 18 – are against their fellow Metropolitan Division occupants. And starting with Sunday’s game in Chicago and running through a Jan. 3 home date with New Jersey, the Caps will have to travel to play each of their next dozen games.
While the Rangers have built up a seven-point lead – the biggest of any of the NHL’s four division leaders – over second-place Philadelphia in the Metro standings, a mere seven points separates the other seven clubs in the division. This seems like it could be a make-or-break juncture in the schedule for the Caps.“Yeah it does,” says Oshie. “Looking back a couple of months from now, we want to say we took advantage of this next stretch here. There are a lot of good teams out there, and when it comes down to the end, you want to be in the top eight.
“Points wise, it’s very important for the team, I think. For me, not being in the last couple of games and just watching the team from a team standpoint, it’d be nice to get our game on track with how we want to play here in a full 60 [minutes], and really control the game. They’re obviously going to get their chances, but we want to have momentum on our side as much as we can, especially in our home building.”
Given that teams now play only 26 games against their divisional opponents in the NHL, the Caps will be playing nearly half – 12 of 26 games – of their Metro slate between now and Jan. 14, which happens to be the exact midpoint of their season. Washington faces just seven Metro foes in the second half of the season, and the Caps have faced seven Metro opponents in their first 23 games of the season, going 5-2-0 in those games.
“With the way everything is shaping up, obviously the Rangers have a big lead, but everyone else is pretty close,” says Caps’ center Dylan Strome. “It’s a big, big part of the schedule. We’ve done well so far, but this could really go a couple of ways. We’re going to try to make it go the right way, and we’ve played well against divisional opponents, so I know we’ll be ready to go.”
“This is an important chunk of games for our group,” says Caps’ left wing Beck Malenstyn. “And getting a good start to that and having a hot hand while rolling through it would make a big difference in the standings for sure. Anytime you get those divisional games, if you can take advantage of them, they can really boost you up.
“I think we have a good focus within the group here, and we’re looking forward to the challenge coming up.”
In The Nets – Two nights after a 34-save performance in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars here in the District, Charlie Lindgren gets the net again tonight against the Rangers. Lindgren’s brother Ryan is a top pair defenseman with New York, and the two brothers will face one another for the first time at the NHL level tonight.
“I just think he has played well for us throughout,” says Carbery of the decision to start Lindgren against New York. “And I think he has earned the opportunity to play tonight, a Saturday night against the Rangers, the top team in the League.
“So that was the decision process; it had nothing to do with the brother stuff. But when I heard that, I was kind of surprised that he hadn’t played against his brother before. But it’s a good opportunity against one of the elite teams in the League.”
Entering tonight’s game, Lindgren is 5-2-1 on the season with a shutout, a 2.61 GAA and a .924 save pct. He will be making his first career appearance against the Rangers.
New York’s netminding choice could go either way, but Igor Shesterkin appears to be the likely starter. Backup Jonathan Quick is the other option, but he appears likely to face longtime former employer Los Angeles on Sunday night in New York when the Rangers return to Manhattan to open up a three-game homestand.
Shesterkin has earned 10 of New York’s 18 wins to date, but he has also been saddled with each of the team’s total of five regulation losses to this point of the campaign. He is 2-2-0 in his last four starts, and most recently yielded five goals on 35 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Senators in Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Shesterkin is 6-3-0 with a 2.79 GAA and a .914 save pct. in nine appearances, all starts.
All Lined Up – Here is how we believe the Capitals and Rangers might look when they take the ice on Saturday night at Capital One Arena:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 92-Kuznetsov, 77-Oshie
21-Protas, 24-McMichael, 39-Mantha
47-Malenstyn, 26-Dowd, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
6-Edmundson, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
35-Kuemper
Injured
19-Backstrom (lower body)
67-Pacioretty (torn Achilles’ tendon)
77-Oshie (upper body)
Scratches
27-Alexeyev
45-Phillips
46-Johansen
NEW YORK
Forwards
20-Kreider, 93-Zibanejad, 22-Brodzinski
10-Panarin, 16-Trocheck, 13-Lafreniere
50-Cuylle, 12-Bonino, 17-Wheeler
26-Vesey, 18-Nash, 71-Pitlick
Defensemen
55-Lindgren, 23-Fox
79-Miller, 8-Trouba
56-Gustafsson, 4-Schneider
Goaltenders
31-Shesterkin
32-Quick
Injured
21-Goodrow (upper body)
24-Kakko (lower body)
72-Chytil (upper body)
Scratches
6-Jones
