Skate Shavings: The Goal Is Goals

After a quick and ultimately unsuccessful trip to Tampa over the weekend, the Capitals return home for a brief two-game homestand. The Caps host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night in the Sabres' second and final visit to Verizon Center this season.

Following an impressive 8-2-1 start to the season, the Caps have slipped to a mediocre 5-5-2 mark over their last dozen games. While the Caps continue to play well defensively - they're fifth in the league with an average of 2.22 goals against per game - Washington has netted just three goals in its last three games, and only 22 tallies in its last 10.

The Caps are currently mired in the midst of a stretch of 93 minutes and 45 seconds of even strength time without lighting the red lamp.

"If we can get a couple to pop, we can score a bunch of goals over the next week to 10 days, I think," says Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen. "It's coming. Our game is coming. The last two games, we've been on the attack and we've had the puck a lot, doing pretty good things defensively.

"Our game is coming. Sometimes your game starts to turn around before the wins come. Hopefully, we're in that position right now."

The Caps downed the Sabres 10 days ago at Verizon Center, 3-1. But since then, the Sabres have added sophomore sensation Jack Eichel back to their lineup. The Sabres are last in the league with an average of two goals per game, but they've scored 10 goals in the three games since Eichel's return. He has netted three of those, and has had a hand in four of them.

"I think his skating is exception, and that's no secret," says Niskanen of Eichel. "But the ability to make high end, skilled plays while moving fast and moving quickly [is there]. I think he's got a good release. He's a pretty smart player. He finds open ice and finds ways to get open. Because he skates really well, it seems like he's always around the puck if he doesn't have it. And he's not afraid to try things too, like most young and talented players nowadays. They'll make things happen in traffic. Where other players maybe will just chip the puck, they're going to try to make things happen. He's a special player already, at his young age."
In this space a few days back, we wondered when the Caps might get around to implementing a long talked about second power play "look" that differs in alignment and personnel (and perhaps, even philosophy) from the team's first unit. Washington's power play has dipped to 22nd in the league this season at 14.5%, and some personnel alterations have not had the desired effect.

At Monday's morning skate, Caps center Jay Beagle was parked in the diamond spot at the top of the paint, the spot where Brett Connolly has recently been on that second unit. But with Connolly sitting out tonight, Beagle gets a rare shot at some power play time.

"[Assistant coach Blaine Forsythe] came to me this morning and said I was going to get a chance on the power play," says Beagle. "So that's exciting. I was working on it out there today with him a little bit and also a little bit with the [power play] unit. It was good to get some reps in before the game."

Of the more than 4,000 minutes of ice time Beagle has logged over his nine seasons in the league, he has skated a grand total of exactly 24 power play minutes. Most of those minutes came in the waning seconds of Washington man advantages, when coaches put the players on the ice they want out there for when the sides return to five-on-five play.

"I'm on the other side of it now," says Beagle. "It's a good chance to try to play a different role. I was put on the second unit, and it's going to be a lot of fun. We were just talking with a couple of guys who are with me on that unit about where I need to be, and they've been helping me out.

"I have killed penalties for probably my whole life. I played some power play when I was younger, and in Hershey I played power play. So I'll draw on those experiences, and it's going to be fun."

Beagle collected the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career earlier this season, and he recorded his second career shorthanded assist as well. But his next power play point in the NHL will be his first. On a team that's teeming with players in prolonged scoring slumps, Beagle's total of four goals this season ranks fifth on the team.

"He deserves it based on his point total," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "We could use a right shot there. Net front, I think he can do that, and puck retrievals and those type of things. Give him a shot - we've got nothing to lose."
Washington has had at least four power play opportunities in each of its last five games, but the Capitals are just 3-for-24 (12.5%) with the extra man over that span. It's been almost two years since the Caps had four or more power play chances in each of five straight games, and ironically, it coincides with the last time the Caps lost as many as four games in a row during the regular season.

From Jan. 16-28, 2015, the Caps had four or more power play chances in five straight games. They were also 3-for-24 with the extra man during that run, and they went 0-3-1 in the first four games of that stretch. That's the last time the Caps have lost as many as four straight games, a fate they're seeking to avoid on Monday night at the hands of the Sabres.

Of the more than 40 rostered players for Buffalo and Washington, 10 were chosen in the top 10 of the NHL draft.

Four Capitals were top 10 picks and six Sabres hold that distinction. Caps captain Alex Ovechkin was the first player chosen overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Washington pivot Nicklas Backstrom was the fourth player chosen in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and defenseman Karl Alzner was fifth overall a year later. Caps forward Brett Connolly was the sixth overall choice of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Buffalo's second line for tonight's game is comprised entirely of top four picks in the NHL draft. Evander Kane was the fourth overall choice (by Atlanta) in 2009 while Eichel (2015) and Sam Reinhart (2014) were both the second players chosen in their respective drafts.

The Sabres also have third overall choice Zach Bogosian (Atlanta in 2008), seventh overall pick Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders in 2006) and eighth overall choice Risto Ristolainen (Buffalo in 2013).