Capitals centers Marcus Johansson and Nicklas Backstrom share a common heritage, but the two Swedes have played together sparingly over the last two seasons.
That’s in large part because they play the same position. But that likely will change Tuesday when Washington hosts the Nashville Predators at Verizon Center. At Monday’s practice at Kettler Iceplex, Johansson practiced at left wing on the top line next to Backstrom and opposite Alex Ovechkin, who himself would be switching sides of the ice.
| Capitals notes |
| » At 16-14-1, Washington sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with 33 standings points and is in third place in the Southeast Division. |
| » Nashville is 17-11-4 with 38 standings points. The Predators have played 10 consecutive one-goal games and won seven of them. |
| » Caps forward Jay Beagle (concussion) was cleared to participate in a full practice, including contact, by the team’s medical staff Monday. Beagle hasn’t played since Oct. 13. |
Johansson’s speed could be a nice fit against one of the NHL’s top defensive pairings — Nashville stars Ryan Suter and Shea Weber. Those two will be tasked as often as possible with shutting down Ovechkin as they did in the Predators’ dramatic 3-1 victory over the Caps on Nov. 15 in Nashville.
Johansson could recall only a handful of times skating on the same line as Backstrom. But he has experience centering Ovechkin, including earlier this season and during last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
“Especially on the forecheck, getting in, turning pucks over,” Caps coach Dale Hunter said when asked what he expected of Johansson, who primarily has centered the team’s second line this season. “Him and especially [Backstrom], they’re friends, and it helps communication wise.”
And the adjustment from center to wing? Johansson says that already started on the recent road trip at Winnipeg and Colorado. Jeff Halpern, also a center but recently playing on the second line as Johansson’s right wing, took the majority of the faceoffs the past two games for that line. Johansson also shifted to wing at times Saturday against Colorado when center Mathieu Perreault fell ill with a migraine headache and Hunter shuffled his forward units to compensate.
“I played wing the last two games, so it’s a little adjustment,” Johansson said. “But it’s fun and I get to play. It’s fun to play with [Backstrom], too, and he’s very easy to play with. We haven’t played a lot together.”
The Caps will try to erase the sour memory of that Nov. 15 loss at Nashville, a Western Conference opponent they don’t see often. Up 1-0 after a goal by forward Troy Brouwer with 4:46 left, Washington gave up the game-tying goal just 28 seconds later.
A late scoring attempt by Mike Knuble with about 35 seconds left was turned aside by goalie Pekke Rinne, who was brilliant that night with a total of 39 saves. With several Caps forwards sprawled on the ice near Rinne’s crease, Nashville pushed for its own game-winning try and converted when Colin Wilson scored with 25 seconds left.
