Game 29: 35-16-9-3 (PTS-W-L-OT)
Saturday December 8, 2018 Washington Capitals @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Place: Nationwide Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSWA, FS-O
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM for Live Box Score
Last Game: Thu December 6 Capitals Won 4-2 against Coyotes
Next Game: Tue December 11, 7:30pm ET Red Wings @ Capitals
 8-Ovechkin | 19-Bäckström | 65-Burakovsky |
| 13-Vrana | 92-Kuznetsov | 10-Connolly |
| 18-Stephenson | 20-Eller | 25-Smith-Pelly |
| 23-Jaskin | 26-Dowd | 72-Boyd |
| 6-Kempny | 74-Carlson |
| 9-Orlov | 2-Niskanen |
| 34-Siegenthaler | 22-Bowey |
|
| 70-Holtby (starter) |
| 1-Copley |
-- SCRATCH -- | 24-Barber |
| 29-Djoos |
| 43-Wilson. (upper body, day-to-day) |
-- INJURED RESERVE -- | 44-Orpik (Knee Surgery, 3-5 weeks before return) |
| 77-Oshie (Place on IR Retroactively, so no 10week wait) |
-- 1st Powerplay Unit -- | 10-Connolly | 19-Bäckström | 92-Kuznetsov |
-- 2nd Powerplay Unit -- | 13-Vrana | 20-Eller | 65-Burakovsky |
Referees: Steve Kozari (#40), Garrett Rank (#7)
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway (#82), Michel Cormier (#76)
Blue Jackets LINEUP Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson
Riley Nash -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Markus Hannikainen
F Oliver Bjorkstrand -- Alexander Wennberg -- Anthony Duclair
Ryan Murray -- Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara -- David Savard
Zach Werenski -- Scott Harrington
Sergei Bobrovsky (Starter)
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: F Adam Clendening, D Dean Kukan, Lukas Sedlak
Injured: none
1st Period01:42 GOAL 10-Connolly, assists 13-Vrana & 92-Kuznetsov 1-0 WSH
10:19 GOAL 23-Jaskin
(1st Caps Goal), assists 72-Boyd & 9-Orlov 2-0 WSH
19:41 GOAL 8-Ovechkin, assists 6-Kempny & 74-Carlson 3-0 WSH
2nd PeriodNone
3rd Period11:04 GOAL 72-Boyd
(1st NHL Goal), assists 8-Ovechkin & 26-Dowd 4-0 WSH
FINAL: 4-0 WSH
By Isabelle Khurshudyan December 7 at 10:18 AM
Capitals mailbag: Will the team visit the White House?
Alex Ovechkin holds the Stanley Cup aloft during a victory rally on the Mall this past summer. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Twenty-eight games into the season, the Washington Capitals have weathered some early season inconsistency and a bevy of injuries to sit atop the Metropolitan Division standings with a 16-9-3 record. This edition of the mailbag answers whether the team will be visiting the White House as the reigning Stanley Cup champions, what led to the Capitals and Russian winger Sergei Shumakov parting ways, whether Tom Wilson should have fought Vegas’s Ryan Reaves early in Tuesday’s game and what’s Pheonix Copley’s future is in Washington.
To submit a question for next time, tweet it with #izzymailbag or email isabelle.khurshudyan@washpost.com.
#izzymailbag is the presumed Caps White House appearance ever actually happening? Any new info since Connolly gave his individual decision?
— Gordon Arsenoff (@deepfriar) December 7, 2018
It’s tradition that most championship teams visit the White House, though there’s been more controversy around that under this administration. President Trump canceled the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles’ visit to the White House in June after some players said they would skip the ceremony to protest the president and his rhetoric. When the Golden State Warriors won the 2017 NBA championship, multiple players, including Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, said they would not visit the White House. They were later uninvited by Trump.
I do expect the Capitals to eventually visit. Their schedule is relatively flexible since they’re the rare championship team based in D.C., and with the recent midterm elections, I suspect there just hasn’t been a time that’s convenient for both sides. But I’ve been told the team has been in communication with the White House and a date just hasn’t been set yet. There’s been some rumor of a January or February visit, but nothing has been confirmed.
Forwards Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly have said they wouldn’t attend a visit to the White House, and while they might not be the only players who take that stance, nearly every player asked about it after last season said they’d want to go. Here’s what owner Ted Leonsis said about it on Oct. 3:
“What I have said is, we’re in Washington, D.C., and the players and the coaching staff have to decide. I’m not going to influence, and if we go to the White House, I will go to the White House. But they haven’t made it to that conversation and a vote yet. . . . I’m sure at some point as the season gets started, there’ll be a team meeting, and they’ll talk about it and come out and tell us what to do.”
Don’t know if you have any information on the Shumakov departure, but I was wondering if this was a player decision or a team decision? #izzymailbag
— Cory (@corypwnsyou) December 7, 2018
The Capitals are placing Russian winger Sergei Shumakov on unconditional waivers, meaning the two sides are parting ways. Washington signed Shumakov this summer after his Kontinental Hockey League contract with CSKA Moscow was terminated, and the team was hopeful his KHL production, 17 goals and 23 assists in 47 games last season, would carry over to the North American game. But he didn’t show well in training camp, struggling with the pace of play here, and less than a month after the team reassigned him to the American Hockey League, he got injured.
It was ultimately his decision to terminate the contract so he could return to Russia, but the Capitals weren’t exactly begging him to stay either. It was a low-risk signing to begin with — Shumakov was on an entry-level, two-way deal — and it just didn’t work out. It’s not like Washington spent a draft pick on him and then worked to develop him for years.
Do you think Tom Wilson should have just fought Reaves in the first period and that would have helped things settle down? Also if the Capitals do play Vegas again, could you see them bringing a goon in to take care of Reaves? #izzymailbag
— Justin (@JustinMH90) December 6, 2018
Reaves’s blindside hit on Wilson in the second period of Tuesday’s game in Vegas was through the shoulder, but Wilson’s helmet popped off on the collision and he then hit his head against the ice. Wilson didn’t play against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night because of a concussion, and with the Capitals not practicing on Friday, I don’t expect he’ll be in the lineup against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday either. Reaves was assessed a five-minute major for interference and also ejected from the game.
Coach Todd Reirden said Reaves was targeting Wilson all game, and that much was pretty obvious. Part of Reaves’s role for the Golden Knights is to get under opponents’ skin. Should Wilson have fought him in the first period as tensions were clearly escalating? In my opinion, no. I think Wilson has become more conscious of his role on the team — a top-line forward who entered Tuesday’s game with eight goals — and in a close game, he probably didn’t think it would help his team to be off the ice for five minutes. In a fight between Reaves, a fourth-liner, and Wilson, that’s a better trade for Vegas than it is for Washington. The more valuable a player is to your team, the less you want him fighting because of the risk of injury, especially to the hands.
Unless the two teams meet in the Stanley Cup finals again, they won’t see each other for the rest of the season, and if Wilson really feels there’s a score to settle the next time he and Reaves are on the ice together, I suspect he’ll want to do it himself.
Has Copley opened any eyes with his play? I remember folks were down on him at the start of the year...he has been solid. He is a UFA at the end of the season right? Does he fit in the Caps future plans or do they let him walk knowing Samsanov is waiting? #izzymailbag
— patrone84 (@patr0ne) December 4, 2018
With Copley having so little NHL experience going into this season, there was an expectation that Braden Holtby would have to carry the goaltending tandem early on. But Copley has won six of the nine games he’s started, and there’s not much more you can ask of a backup goaltender. On Thursday night against the Coyotes, he kept the game close as the Capitals struggled at the start.
“I don’t want to have him sitting for too long,” Reirden said. “I thought he made some good saves. Tough to give up the chance we do on the goal-against right away, and he hung in there. That’s not easy for a backup goalie who’s trying to find his way in the National Hockey League. . . . He was really solid from that point moving forward. That’s a huge, huge win for our team given the circumstances.”
The question of his future with Washington is interesting because there’s Holtby’s future to consider, too. Holtby’s contract runs through the 2019-20 season, and he’s due a pay raise on his current $6.1 million cap hit. With 2015 first-round pick Ilya Samsonov playing his first season in the American Hockey League, I think the Capitals want to see what they have in him before they make a decision on how to proceed with Holtby. The plan as of now would seem to be that Samsonov steps into the backup goaltender role next season, but Copley, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, is making a case for himself, and if there isn’t a place for him with the Capitals, then this is a good audition for a different team.
Capitals recall Riley Barber from Hershey Bears, put TJ Oshie on injured reserve
By
Cara Bahniuk (
@carabahniuk) on December 7, 2018 |
32 Comments
The Washington Capitals announced that they recalled Hershey Bears forward Riley Barber Friday afternoon. This will be Barber’s first callup of the season after signing a one-year contract in July.
Barber has arguably been the Bears best player of the season. The former sixth-round pick has 8 goals and 10 assists in 20 games and leads Hershey in points. Barber scored the famed Teddy Bear Toss goal on his way to a Gordie Howe hat trick.
“He’s right where he was projected to be through his career,” Caps assistant coach Reid Cashman said in September. “[Now] he needs to figure out a way to take that last right wing spot, compete for that job and make the most of his opportunity.”
Barber’s callup was likely done to give the Capitals more forward depth with Tom Wilson out with a concussion. Wilson suffered his injury Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Wilson is traveling with the team, but has not participated in practice or played since.
To make room for Barber, the Capitals have put TJ Oshie, also out with a concussion, on injured reserve.
Washington’s next game is Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
More from the Capitals:
The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Riley Barber from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.
The 6’0″, 200-pound forward leads Hershey with 18 points (8g, 10a) this season. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native has recorded six multi-point games this season, including a season high three points (1g, 2a) on Dec. 2 against the Binghamton Devils. In addition, Barber leads the Bears and is tied for seventh in the AHL in shots on goal (74).
Barber led the Bears in goals (20) and power play goals (10) last season, ranked tied for first in game-winning goals (5) and fourth in points (38).
Barber has earned 138 points (67g, 71a) in 193 career AHL games with Hershey. He was named Hershey’s Rookie of the Year in 2016 following a 55-point season (26g, 29a).
Barber made his NHL/Capitals debut on Feb. 24, 2017, against the Edmonton Oilers and played in three games with Washington in the 2016-17 season.
Barber played at Miami University (Ohio) for three seasons from 2012-15 and earned 123 points (54g, 69a) in 116 games. He was drafted by the Capitals in the sixth round, 167th overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft.
