#CapsJackets Skate Shavings: Deadline Day, Game Day

Another trade deadline day has come and gone in the NHL. All trades must be consummated prior to today's 3 p.m. (ET) deadline, and rosters are set thereafter, save for a few ups and downs between the NHL clubs and their AHL farm affiliates. We're still waiting on a few deals to trickle through the trade transom, but for the most part, the deals are done and the teams are set, and that is certainly the case for the Caps. None of the post-3 p.m. announcements of deals will involve Washington.

Over the last decade, the Caps have usually been off and have usually been at home on deadline day. Today marks the first time in four years and just the third time in the last decade that they've had a game to play on deadline day. Washington is in Ohio's capital city and will face the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.

Washington made a pair of deals last week, each of which brought in a left-handed defenseman in exchange for a draft pick. On Monday, the Caps landed defenseman Michal Kempny from Chicago in exchange for a third-round pick. Two days later, they added blueliner Jakub Jerabek from Montreal for a fifth-rounder. Kempny has played well in his first two games with Washington, and Jerabek has yet to suit up. He could do so as soon as Tuesday when the Caps return home to host Ottawa in the second game of a back-to-back set.

While the Caps were preparing to take the ice for an optional morning skate here in Columbus on Monday, Washington general manager Brian MacLellan and the team's hockey operations staff were back in the DMV doing their due diligence on available players around the league. According to various pundits from around the circuit, the Caps were connected to the pursuit of some big-name blueliners who were believed to be available, but the deadline has come and gone without any word of further Washington moves.

"Whatever group that we're given this day, after 3 o'clock, is the group that's going to help us win and hopefully win a Stanley Cup," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "That's what every coach [is thinking] this day, if you're adding and you're probably a team that's going to be in the playoffs and can do some damage.

"We've added some people already, so if this is the group going forward then so be it. We're in good shape."

The Caps had a game in Philadelphia on the trade deadline four years ago (March 5, 2014) and they had a game in Buffalo on the deadline eight years ago (March 3, 2010). The last time the Caps played at home on deadline day was a decade ago to the day (Feb. 26, 2008) when they beat the Minnesota Wild by a 4-1 count in the District just hours after announcing deals that brought Sergei Fedorov, Cristobal Huet and Matt Cooke to Washington.

The Caps-Jackets game is one of five on the NHL schedule tonight, and playing on a game day definitely has a bit of a different feel than not doing so.

"I think it does a little bit," says Caps winger T.J. Oshie. "I think it is always in the back of your mind. This game is a business, so you have to be a little prepared just in case something ever did happen. But you kind of hope that your team stays how it is, or at least that's how I've always felt. You get relationships and I'm pretty happy with the room in here.

"For us, it's more entertaining seeing what moves people make and seeing how other teams shape up. As far as ours guys, I'm pretty happy with what we've got in here."

"In this business, Mac - if he is going to make a deal - he will text us," says Trotz. "If it's imminent, he'll text us and say, 'What do you think?' So you've got someone watching your phone, but other than that we'll just go about what we need to do. We need to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight."

Busy Blue Jackets - After claiming defenseman Taylor Chorney off waivers from Washington on Thursday, Columbus obtained center Mark Letestu from Edmonton on Sunday and made a pair of moves on Monday as well.

Columbus obtained former Penguins defenseman Ian Cole, who moved from Pittsburgh to Ottawa last week. We learned of the Cole deal early in the morning, and then the Jackets acquired Thomas Vanek from Vancouver in the afternoon, an hour or so ahead of the deadline.

Veteran Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson had requested a trade a month ago or so, but the Jackets were unable to meet that request, so he will remain here on Ohio until season's end.

In The Nets - Braden Holtby gets the net for the Capitals tonight in Columbus, and for the first time in his NHL career, he goes into a starting assignment saddled with a personal five-game losing streak (0-3-2), though three of those games (against Detroit, Winnipeg and Florida) could have easily gone into the win column. Holtby played well in his most recent start on Thursday in Florida, and was on the verge of earning a victory until the Panthers netted a pair of deflection goals - the second of which came on a power play - in the final four minutes of regulation.

After that game's excruciating conclusion, Holtby was encouraged by the way he played, albeit in a losing effort.

"I felt comfortable out there," said Holtby after Thursday's game. "I made some adjustments - more on the rush, trying to be a little more aggressive at times - and I think it worked."

Holtby stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced against the Panthers. His most recent win came against Columbus in Washington on Feb. 9 when he stopped 35 of 37 shots in a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets. Holtby is 3-0 against the Jackets this season, and he has stopped 104 of 111 shots (.937 save pct.) in those three contests.

Lifetime against the Jackets, Holtby is 14-3-2 with a shutout, a 2.47 GAA and a .918 save pct.

For the Jackets, it will be Sergei Bobrovsky in goal against the Capitals on Monday. He has surrendered two or fewer goals in six of his last seven starts, going 4-2-1 during that span. Lifetime against the Capitals, Bobrovsky is 6-10-4 in 21 appearances with a 3.10 GAA and an .897 save pct.

All Lined Up - Here's how we expect the Capitals and the Blue Jackets to look when they take the ice on Monday night at Nationwide Arena:

WASHINGTON

Forwards

8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 43-Wilson

10-Connolly, 92-Kuznetsov, 77-Oshie

18-Stephenson, 20-Eller, 65-Burakovsky

25-Smith-Pelly, 83-Beagle, 39-Chiasson

Defensemen

6-Kempny, 74-Carlson

9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen

44-Orpik, 29-Djoos

Goaltenders

70-Holtby

31-Grubauer

Scratches

13-Vrana

22-Bowey

28-Jerabek

Injured

None

COLUMBUSForwards

9-Panarin, 18-Dubois, 13-Atkinson

38-Jenner, 10-Wennberg, 28-Bjorkstrand

11-Calvert, 17-Dubinsky, 45-Sedlak

24-Gerbe, 36-Jokinen, 77-Anderson

Defensemen

8-Werenski, 3-Jones

7-Johnson, 27-Murray

44-Chorney, 58-Savard

Goaltenders

72-Bobrovsky

70-Korpisalo

Scratches

4-Harrington

29-Dalpe

37-Hannikainen

Injuries

46-Kukan (upper body)

65-Nutivaara (undisclosed)

71-Foligno (lower body)