SKATE SHAVINGS: News and Notes from Caps' Morning Skate
New Jersey is a possibility, along with Columbus and Philadelphia. According to sportsclubstats.com, the Caps have a 34 percent chance of facing Columbus, a 34 percent chance of facing Philadelphia, and a 32 percent chance of drawing the Devils as their first-round foe. Let the one-game coin flip tournament begin!Ā
āThere is not a lot on the line for us. But it is a real game, and a potential first-round opponent, and itās the last one before the real thing starts so there is no sense in taking the foot off the gas now.
āI think itās important for us to go out there and to play the game really hard and to focus on the right details and donāt take any shortcuts, so you donāt get any bad habits. And keep your fingers crossed for no injuries.āĀ
Somber Saturday ā The hockey community ā from the NHL all the way down to youth hockey ā is a tight-knit group. As the NHL heads into its final weekend of the regular season, the hockey community is reeling and in mourning from a devastating bus accident late Friday afternoon, an accident involving the Humboldt (Saskatchewan) Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Including the driver, there were 28 people aboard the Broncosā team bus. Fourteen people were fatally injured, and three of the survivors are in critical condition as of Saturday morning.Ā
āMy condolences go out to the Humboldt Broncos hockey club, the town of Humboldt and the families of all the young men who were tragically killed last night,ā says Caps coach Barry Trotz. āThose young men were chasing a dream, they were proud of their community, and my heart goes out to them. A lot of our players in this league were chasing that same dream and were on the same busses along the way. That brings some reality to what we do for a living.
āFor anybody who has been on those buses and traveled and done all that, the players come from all over, especially in Canada. For people who donāt know, theyāre from all over Western Canada. They come and play in a small town, youāre embraced by a small town and youāre part of the small town. And youāre chasing a dream to play in the Western Hockey league and hopefully move on to the pros.Ā Ā
āI left home at a young age ā 16 years old ā and you go and chase your dream a little bit, and your parents allow you to do that. It does hit a little bit [close to] home. But my heart goes out to them.āĀ
Bus travel is a familiar ritual to hockey teams at every level, and similar tragedies have occurred in the past, but not with this number of injuries and fatalities. The WHL Swift Current Broncosā bus crashed in Saskatchewan in 1986, killing four members of that team, including Brent Ruff, the younger brother of NHL player and future head coach Lindy Ruff.Ā
More recently, the AHL Albany River Rats team bus crashed in Massachusetts in the winter of 2009, injuring a handful of players but fortunately none of them fatally. Former Caps goalie Justin Peters was on that bus, and his harrowing tale of the events of that night is unforgettable. Even NHL players spent countless hours every season riding buses.Ā
Our sincerest condolences go out to the Humboldt Broncos and their families and friends, the town of Humboldt and the SJHL.Ā
Line āEm Up. Or Rest āEm Up ā The Caps are resting right wing T.J. Oshie for Saturday nightās game, Jay Beagle will miss a third straight game with an upper body injury, and Travis Boyd will sit out because of illness.Ā
On the New Jersey side, the Devils will rest four key cogs ā defenseman Sami Vatanen and forwards Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri ā for the regular season finale. The Devils just nailed down their playoff berth on Thursday night with a 2-1 home ice win over the Toronto Maple Leafs; tonightās game represents their only chance to rest some regulars.Ā
In The Nets ā Braden Holtby gets the net tonight for Washington, and he will be seeking his 34 thvictory of the season. He has won five of his last seven starts (5-2-0), posting a 2.81 GAA and a .906 save pct. during that stretch. Lifetime in the month of April during the regular season, Holtby is 22-3-4 with three shutouts, a 2.08 GAA and a .933 save pct.Ā
Holtby won his most recent start, a 4-2 win over the Blues in St. Louis on Monday night. He stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced in that game. Lifetime against New Jersey, Holtby is 14-3-3 with four shutouts, a 1.93 GAA and a .927 save pct. in 20 appearances.
For the Devils, Cory Schneider gets the start on Saturday. Since joining the Devils in a June, 2013 trade with Vancouver, Schneider has entered every season as New Jerseyās go-to guy in goal. But that status changed this season after Schneider was sidelined with a groin injury in late January.Ā Ā
When he went on injured reserve, Schneider owned a 17-11-6 record, a shutout, a 2.79 GAA and a .913 save pct. Since returning to live action at the beginning of March, he has started four games, losing all four (0-4-0) and posting a 3.82 GAA and an .862 save pct. in the process. After appearing in 35 of New Jerseyās first 47 games this season, Schneiderās Saturday night start against Washington is his fifth appearance in the Devilsā last 35 games.Ā
Keith Kinkaid has become the new No. 1 in New Jersey, but he is getting a well-earned rest on Saturday. Kinkaid was instrumental in helping the Devils get back to the playoffs for the first time in six years this spring, posting a 19-6-1 record with a 2.53 GAA and a .922 save pct. since the NHLās All-Star break at the end of January.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Schneider is 3-8-2 with a shutout, a 2.50 GAA and a .912 save pct.
All Lined Up ā Here is how we expect the Caps and the Devils to look when they take to the ice on Saturday night for the 2017-18 regular season finale at Capital One Arena:
Ā
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
65-Burakovsky, 19-Backstrom, 10-Connolly
13-Vrana, 20-Eller, 25-Smith-Pelly
63-Gersich, 18-Stephenson, 39-Chiasson
Defensemen
6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 28-JerabekĀ
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
31-GrubauerĀ
Scratches
22-Bowey
29-Djoos
64-Pinho
77-Oshie
Injured
72-Boyd (illness)
83-Beagle (upper body)
Ā
NEW JERSEY
Forwards
63-Bratt, 13-Hischier, 18-Stafford
44-Wood, 37-Zacha, 17-MaroonĀ
39-Gibbons, 20-Coleman, 23-Noesen
40-Grabner, 11-Boyle, 10-Hayes
Defensemen
6-Greene, 25-Mueller
2-Moore, 28-Severson
8-Butcher, 12-Lovejoy
Goaltenders
35-Schneider
1-KinkaidĀ
Scratches
9-Hall
19-Zajac
21-Palmieri
45-VatanenĀ
Injuries
90-Johansson (concussion)