Caps get back to work after the break

Dec. 28 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena

Time: 7:00 p.m

TV: MNMT

Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7

Washington Capitals (9/23/2)

Toronto Maple Leafs (12/21/2)

Following the NHL’s three-day holiday break and an orientation/practice session on Friday at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the Caps will pick up where they left off before the break, on the road. The Caps travel to Toronto for a weekend of back-to-back games. After Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs, the Caps travel to the Motor City to face the Detroit Red Wings late Sunday afternoon.

Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs is the middle game in a three-game road series for Washington, which entered the break following a 4-1 loss to the Bruins in Boston on Monday night. The Caps entered the third period of the game tied at 1-1, but had nothing to do offensively against the stingy Bruins, who scored three last-minute goals and Washington with a lead of just five feet Only the second defeat of the season resulted in three or more goals.

Caps captain Alex Ovechkin and center Lars Eller were both full participants in Friday’s practice. Neither player has been definitively cleared to play in Toronto on Saturday, although both players are traveling and both could play on Saturday, but only if they are cleared to do so by the Capitals’ medical staff.

“We’ll see, we’ll see,” Caps coach Spencer Carbery said. “Things are moving in the right direction for people. Another step for (Ovechkin); I can’t say he’s in the lineup (Saturday), we’ll have to wait and see how he responds in practice today and then we’ll know (Saturday morning).

“When we knew (before halftime) he wasn’t going to play in the LA game and the Boston game, that practice was zoned for full-contact drills with nine players moving. So since he was a part of it, we knew this would be a big task for him to check on the way back.”

Eller missed three games due to illness, but his status for Saturday is also currently uncertain.

“He trained fully today, which is a positive sign,” said Carbery. “We’ll see (Saturday). He’s kind of in the same boat as (Ovechkin).”

Every team in the NHL had three dark days with no team activity over the holidays, but the Caps also have the rare luxury of not having to play a game on the first day after the break, although they obviously get back in the game with another set of back-to-backs.

“First time ever, I think,” Caps defenseman John Carlson said. “(PL) Dubois said he got up, packed his bag and came to the rink in anticipation of us playing tonight, like we (normally) would. And yeah, I don’t know if we ever did that. We always play the day after (during the holidays). I would say it’s definitely a great luxury and I think we’ve had good practice. And of course it won’t be perfect after three days off. But I was pretty happy with the (holiday) plan and how it went this year.”

Carlson is right. For the first time in Washington’s 50-year franchise history, the Caps have no game scheduled on either December 26th or 27th. (Washington did not play games from December 20-28, 2021, but there were some games postponed during that period due to a COVID outbreak, including a scheduled home game against Ottawa on December 27 of that season/year.) Nowadays, the NHL holiday break three days: December. 24-26. But it wasn’t that long ago that games were played on December 26th. The Caps played on December 26, 2019, when they beat the Canadiens at home the day after Christmas.

Typically, the Caps either play at home the day after the holiday break – whether that’s the 26th or the 27th – or they do a quick, early morning skate at home before traveling on to play there the day of the game play first possible day after the break.

This year, they enjoy the luxury of a full at-home workout and a leisurely travel day, as well as a full Saturday morning skate in Toronto before starting the 2024-25 season again.

“Hopefully we can use it to our advantage,” Carbery said. “Toronto plays Detroit (Friday night), so we (the Maple Leafs) will get a back-to-back matchup and Detroit will get us a back-to-back matchup (Sunday). It’s always difficult; You’re trying to prepare your team as best you can in a short period of time, whether that’s through meetings, pre-scouts, practice time, or managing physical preparation after you’ve just had three days off and probably expended a lot of those three days worth of calories and not doing much, which is great because I think it’s important mentally.

“But getting back into game mode now is always the challenge to see who can do it at a higher level after the break.”

That’s something the Caps are looking to improve on from last season, when they posted a 5-10-2 record in their first 17 games after the holiday break.

“Hopefully we can hit the ground running on Saturday night and use this practice to kind of put ourselves in a position to get right back to our game in Toronto,” Carbery said. “This part of the season is interesting; I watched it during break.

“You can divide the season into three parts. There are the 34 games we have just played – almost half the season – and then comes the Christmas break, take a deep breath and now we have 21 games in 44 days before the Four Nations (tournament in February). Something like the middle part of the season and then the final push. So these 21 (games) in 44 (nights) are our midfield where I feel like we can really help each other out as a team and prepare for the final stretch. As part of this we are also traveling to Western Canada; We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. It’s a good, strong 44 days and 21 games that will be really important for our team and our group.”

Just over three weeks ago, Washington won a 3-1 decision over the Leafs in Toronto, a Dec. 6 game that also marked the start of a series of back-to-back games for the Capitals. Anthony Stolarz scored the goal for the Leafs in this game here earlier this month, but is currently recovering from a lower-body ailment and will not be in Toronto’s lineup; The same goes for Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who is expected to miss both Leafs games this weekend with an upper-body injury.

The Leafs entered the holiday break after a two-game skid on home ice, losing to the New York Islanders on Dec. 21 and the Winnipeg Jets two nights later.

Along with the Capitals, the Leafs are one of two NHL teams to have an NHL-record nine consecutive games between opening night of the 2024-25 season and New Year’s Eve. Toronto flew to Detroit to provide the opponent for Todd McLellan’s debut as Red Wings bench boss on Friday night, so the Caps will meet the Leafs for the second night in a row, while the Wings will meet Washington in the same situation on Sunday.