SKATE SHAVINGS - News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate 12/14

The Back-To-Back Attack - On Friday night in Carolina, Washington faces a second straight foe that will be playing for the second time in as many nights. The Caps dismantled Detroit 6-2 on Tuesday, a night after the Wings won over the Kings on home ice. Now they'll face the Canes in a similar situation; Carolina spent Thursday night in Montreal playing the Canadiens while the Caps were living a life of leisure and getting to bed early in Raleigh.

For years, the game plan of a rested team facing a weary team has been to forecheck them tenaciously and to make them feel the body; be physical against them and make every hit a reminder of their weariness. This is especially true early in games when you're trying to get a jump on them. But when the Caps waylaid the Wings by taking a 3-0 lead over them in the first 20 minutes of Tuesday's game, they did so with the benefit of just two hits in the first period.
"You see it more and more," says Caps coach Todd Reirden, "that the physical element is leaving from our game. Just with suspensions in different areas and penalties, I think they're trying to take some of that out of the game. So I think you've got to be forward thinking in how your team is going to play.
"It's equally as difficult to play against a team that's going to play fast. And when you're putting pucks out to areas where we're winning races, that is where you see the fatigue from another team. It doesn't have to always be on the body. We like to do that and we have a team that can play that style of game. But [Tuesday night] - and probably our focus from Game 20 on - really has been pushing the speed of play that we can force on other teams. And that doesn't mean just having fast players.
"Our definition of playing fast in our locker room is something much different than having a bunch of fast players. It's how we want to play and it comes in a number of different ways. And it's one of our foundation keys for team success. So it's an area where we've been able to have some success over the last 12 or 13 games, even going back prior to game 20. But it's a way you can really have an effect on the opposition, especially if they're fatigued a little bit."

A physical pounding will likely always be effective against weary teams playing for the second time in as many days. But having that weary team chase the puck will work too - if the rested team is able to make it happen - and it has the added benefit of potentially leading to some power play opportunities for the rested team as well.
Man Down -The Caps didn't have defenseman Christian Djoos available for practice on Wednesday; he had suffered what seemed at the time to be a lower body injury and was listed as day-to-day. Unfortunately for Djoos and for the Caps, the injury took a turn and Djoos will be out indefinitely.
"It's a really unexpected situation," says Reirden. "He was hurt during the Detroit game, and some complications arose and he ended up having to have surgery. So he'll be away from our team for a while, [we're] just concerned about his health here moving forward and just wishing him the best here."
Reirden says that Djoos is not out for the season but is expected to miss "a substantial number of weeks." The Caps are hopeful of having Brooks Orpik back in their lineup soon, which should help mitigate Djoos' absence some, but Reirden also acknowledged that Washington will likely recall a defenseman from AHL Hershey for Saturday's game against Buffalo. The Caps have only six defensemen with them in Carolina.
The immediate upshot of all this is that Jonas Siegenthaler will man the left side of Washington's third defensive pairing tonight alongside Madison Bowey. The 21-year-old Siegenthaler has played in five games this season, and he played in consecutive contests for the first time at the end of last week's road trip, skating in the Dec. 6 game at Arizona and in the trip finale in Columbus on Dec. 8.
Siegenthaler has played well in his limited showings, and the Caps have played well this season while missing important players, so here is another of those instances.
"We have a lot of guys who have played well and stepped up while we have had injuries," says Caps winger Brett Connolly. "That's what we've been doing all year, and it's nice to see guys get excited by those opportunities and to take advantage of it. That's a big reason while we're winning games while guys are banged up, because other guys are stepping up."
Siegenthaler, the Caps' second-round pick (57th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft is the next man up in this instance, joining fellow second-rounder (from 2013) Bowey on Washington's third pairing.

"I think we're finding chemistry between us," says Bowey of his new partner. "I know he is a big guy, but he likes to move his feet and he can shut down guys pretty easily in the [defensive] zone when he is closing quick and playing physical.
"We work really well together, I think. We definitely complement each other well. I think I can jump up into the play a little more and get my offense going, and he is a steady guy who can move the puck up and get the puck in the forwards' hands as quick as possible. When we're doing that, I think we're a pretty good team and a pretty tough team to beat. Right now, we're still developing and still learning, but we're definitely making some great strides together."
Ten Spot -While Caps captain Alex Ovechkin aims to stretch his scoring streak to 13 games tonight, which would match a career best, Washington winger Brett Connolly also has his eyes on a career best scoring run. Connolly has collected a point in five straight games (two goals, four assists) and is also seeking to match his career best tonight.
"It's great," says Connolly. "I've had the opportunity to move up in the lineup and really not worry about anything other than just having fun and playing. Reirds has put a lot of trust in me, and I feel my game is the best it has been in my career right now, so I'm just having fun with it. I'm just trying to take advantage of my opportunity and just keep going."
Connolly is tied for third on the team in even-strength scoring with 17 ES points, and he is tied for fifth on the team with five even-strength goals. In each of Washington's last two games, Connolly has delivered the first marker of the game before the first television timeout.
The 43 Car - The Caps expect to get Tom Wilson back in the lineup for Friday's game against the Canes. After missing the first 16 games of the season because of a league suspension, Wilson returned to the lineup in mid-November. He piled up the goals and the points, scoring eight times and totaling 14 points in 11 games before sustaining an upper body injury in a Dec. 4 game against Vegas. He has missed three games and is expected to man the right side of a line with Jakub Vrana and Evgeny Kuznetsov on Friday.
"A little bit different," says Wilson of hopping back into the lineup tonight. "Obviously the last one was healthy - different circumstances. This one is a little bit of an injury and a shorter period of time. Same sort of thing; you've got to adjust as quick as you can and try and jump in and help the team in whatever way you can right off the bat."

In The Nets -Braden Holtby will be in goal for Washington on Friday night, seeking a third straight victory. Holtby is 12-7-2 on the season, and he is 7-2-0 in his last nine appearances. Over those nine games, Holtby has fashioned a 7-2-0 mark with a shutout, a 2.20 GAA and a .922 save pct.
Lifetime against the Canes, Holtby is 12-6-0 in 18 appearances with a pair of shutouts, a 1.93 GAA and a .940 save pct.
As for the identity of Carolina's netminder, we're not certain. Here's what we do know:
Curtis McElhinney is injured; it won't be him. Cam Ward is with the Blackhawks now and it obviously won't be him, either.
Petr Mrazek played last night in Montreal, giving up five goals on 39 shots in just under 58 minutes in the net before he was pulled for an extra attacker. Mrazek has started all three games since McElhinney went down, and would be the all-but-certain starter tonight if the Canes hadn't played last night.
Scott Darling is the other Carolina goaltender listed on the game notes, but there is not a strong sense that the Canes are eager to go back to him. He performed poorly last season in the first season of a four-year contract the Canes signed him to in the summer of 2017, and started this season on injured reserve. After a conditioning stint at AHL Charlotte, Darling was recalled in late October.
Darling made his season's debut on Oct. 30 against Boston, the first of seven starting assignments - including four in a row from Nov. 8-17 - he received on the season. He went 2-0-1 in those four consecutive starts, with both wins coming over his former team, the Blackhawks. After that stretch though, Darling made just one more start, losing to the Islanders on Nov. 24. With a 2-4-1 mark on the season to go along with a 3.14 GAA and an .891 save pct., and with Carolina satisfied with the McElhinney/Mrazek tandem, the Canes waived Darling and returned him to Charlotte after he cleared in late November.
Less than 10 days later, he was rather reluctantly recalled when McElhinney went down. Darling may well get the start against Washington tonight. If he does, it will be his first NHL action since Nov. 24. He has played in five games with Charlotte this season, four of them since Nov. 30. Lifetime against the Caps, Darling is 2-1-0 in five appearances with a 2.18 GAA and a .910 save pct.

All Lined Up -This is how we expect the Caps and the Hurricanes to look when they meet on Friday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
13-Vrana, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
10-Connolly, 20-Eller, 25-Smith-Pelly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 72-Boyd
Defensemen
6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
34-Siegenthaler, 22-Bowey
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
1-Copley
Injuries
29-Djoos (lower body)
43-Wilson (upper body)
44-Orpik (lower body)
Scratches
18-Stephenson
65-Burakovsky
CAROLINA
Forwards
48-Martinook, 20-Aho, 86-Teravainen
37-Svechnikov, 71-Wallmark, 14-Williams
59-Kuokkanen, 49-Rask, 23-McGinn
13-Foegele, 64-Bishop, 7-Di Giuseppe
Defensemen
74-Slavin, 19-Hamilton
44-deHaan, 27-Faulk
57-van Riemsdyk, 22-Pesce
Goaltenders
34-Mrazek
33-Darling
Injuries
4-Fleury (upper body)
11-Staal (concussion)
35-McElhinney (lower body)
79-Ferland (upper body)
Scratches
None