I Got A Mind To Go To Chicago – The Caps open a two-game road trip Friday night in Chicago against the Blackhawks. Immediately after Friday’s game, both teams will hustle off to the airport for a flight to the same destination: Nashville. The Blackhawks face the Predators in Music City on Saturday night, while the Caps will have the luxury of watching that one; their trip ends there Sunday evening against the Preds.
With five wins in their last 16 games – but points in nine of the 16 – the Caps are seeking to rediscover their mojo and the identity that served them so well during a pair of early season hot spells, one at the start of the season and the other in the back half of November.
“It’s a daily process of us [doing] a bunch of different things, of us trying to teach, trying to make corrections, trying to find some chemistry inside of our group with what it looks like right now,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “So, there's a combination of a lot of things going on. I think that our challenge as a staff is, as different guys are coming in and out of the lineup, as there's a condensed schedule with not a lot of practice time and not a lot of film time, is finding ways to get the group on the same page with what it needs to look like, get individuals on the same page with what their game needs to look like, and that's just a daily process.”
For tonight’s game in Chicago, the Blackhawks will get star forward Connor Bedard back in their lineup following an absence of a dozen games because of a shoulder injury. The Caps are hopeful of having Aliaksei Protas return to their lineup after he missed the team’s just completed three-game homestand, but he will be a game-time decision tonight.
Indicators are good on a Protas return tonight; he was activated from injured reserve on Friday afternoon, and Tom Wilson was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 5.
“He's a significant challenge,” says Carbery of Bedard. “He's having a phenomenal season. We've seen him in the past. We didn't see him a week ago, but the things that he can do with the puck, breaking you down in one on one situations, whether that's through the rush or in the offensive zone, when he gets into scoring situations, his ability to change a shot – I think I talked about this a few years ago – is [unique]; he changes his shot angle as good as anybody in the world when he gets in tight spaces. And you think you've got him stick on puck, he's able to just move it six inches more to get a real clean look off of when he gets into that dangerous scoring area, and frankly, that's a little bit larger for him than it is for most players.
“So, we're aware of that, and yeah, we're going to need to do a real good job without last change. That means everybody's going to probably inevitably have to face him at some point.”
Me And My Dad – This weekend’s journey to Chicago and Nashville is also the Capitals’ 16th Mentors’ Trip, and the weekend kicked off with a team dinner with plenty of great food and drinks, camaraderie and laughs and a riveting after dinner speaker on Thursday night after the Caps arrived in the Windy City.
Today, the mentors were able to sit in on the Capitals’ video pre-scout session in preparation for the Hawks tonight, and they were able to watch the morning skate and get a glimpse of the NHL road life, behind the scenes.
And for Caps players, especially the younger ones who are going through their first Mentors’ Trip, it’s a great opportunity for them to have some valuable in-season time with their dads and to share a unique window into what they do for most of the year.
“It’s awesome,” says Caps center Hendrix Lapierre. “Obviously, I speak just for us, but I think he’s having a tremendous time. He loves hockey. He doesn’t like to admit it, but seeing those videos and the pre-scouts, I think it really gets to him; he really loves it. But it’s been great to spend a couple of days with him. We don’t see our parents often during the year, so it’s awesome to have some quality minutes with them, and just chat about life, and what’s going on recently. I’m glad they do this, and it’s incredible.”
“It’s super exciting,” says Caps center Justin Sourdif. “He was really excited to be able to come down and watch and see what we do when we’re on the road. And It’s great to spend some time with him; I hadn’t seen him since I moved down to [DC]. I had been spending some time at home at the end of the summer but I hadn’t seen him since, so it’s been super good to be able to talk to him in person. And obviously he’ll get a chance to watch me play here with the Caps, and as a Caps fan growing up, I think it’s pretty cool to see it come full circle.”
“It means a lot,” says Caps right wing Ethen Frank. “Obviously I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without him, and he’s been a huge role model for throughout my entire life. I think he’s done a pretty good job in the way he raised me and my sister, and I know he’s thrilled to be here. He’s always asking questions on what’s it like on a game day or a road trip, and trying to find out the details of it, so I’m glad he gets to experience it with me.”
Carbery is experiencing his third Mentors’ Trip, as is his father, Bryan.
“I enjoy the mentors – and the fathers – at the game, when they come down after,” says Carbery. “Because they get to experience an NHL game, watching their sons play, and then come down to the locker room. It just brings me back to a minor hockey rink where they’d be grabbing their son from the game. So, I always appreciate that part after the games, when they’re all lined up giving knuckles to the guys after the game.
“The first night is great, because you get to meet a lot of [mentors], and by this time I’ve probably met most of the mentors on the trip, but you get to just get a glimpse into a lot of our players, who you get to know so well and who I know so well, and just their family life. Sometimes you get some good nuggets and good stories of them as their younger selves.
“So, I would say those are probably the two highlights for me, is being able to chat with the mentors and get to talk to them, and then also to see their reactions postgame.”
In The Nets – Logan Thompson gets the start for Washington tonight in the Windy City. Thompson was excellent on Wednesday night in the homestand finale in a losing effort; he made 32 saves to keep the Caps in the contest. He was also strong against the Hawks last Saturday in Washington, making 31 saves in a shootout loss.
Lifetime against the Blackhawks, Thompson is 4-1-2 with a shutout, a 1.95 GAA and a .932 GAA in seven appearances, all starts.
We are expecting to see Spencer Knight in the nets for Chicago this evening. Knight outdueled Thompson in a shootout in the District last weekend, and he is 3-0-1 in his last three starts, winning three in a row since the flip of the calendar.
Lifetime against Washington, Knight is 2-2-0 in five appearances – three starts – with a 3.29 GAA and a .906 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and the Hawks might look on Friday night in Chicago, with a reminder that Protas is a good possibility to slot in somewhere in the Washington lineup:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 72-Beauvillier
24-McMichael, 34-Sourdif, 9-Leonard
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
15-Milano, 29-Lapierre, 20-Leason
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
21-Protas (lower body)
43-Wilson (lower body)
80-Dubois (abdomen)
CHICAGO
Forwards
98-Bedard, 20-Greene, 28-Burakovsky
8-Donato, 16-Dickinson, 95-Mikheyev
86-Teravainen, 11-Moore, 76-Lardis
59-Bertuzzi, 34-Dach, 17-Foligno
Defensemen
72-Vlasic, 46-Crevier
44-Kaiser, 55-Levshunov
48-Grzelcyk, 5-Murphy
Goalies
30-Knight
40-Soderblom
Healthy Extras
24-Lafferty
84-Slaggert
Injured/Out
91-Nazar (upper body)
