- The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Tom Wilson says he isn’t much of a yoga guy. But the Capitals forward participated in the activity after Tuesday’s practice because he “knows it helps.”

The exercise is just one of the many ways Wilson tries to keep his body right during a grueling NHL season.

With the Capitals 52 games into an 82-game campaign, Wilson has the bumps and bruises that come with it. That’s no more evident than the giant scab across his nose — the product of taking a stick or knee to the face. He can’t remember exactly how it happened, he says. 

But Wilson, like the rest of his teammates, is starting to feel better by the day. As the result of an odd scheduling quirk, the Capitals haven’t played a game since last Thursday and don’t resume play until this Thursday — giving them a weeklong break in the dog days of the season. And on Tuesday, the rested Capitals looked as close as they have all season to getting back to full strength.

Forward T.J. Oshie, goalie Vitek Vanecek and defenseman Justin Schultz could travel with the Capitals for Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers, coach Peter Laviolette said.

All three have been out at least a week — with Oshie missing more than a month, while Vanecek has been out since Feb. 1. Forward Anthony Mantha, who has been out since undergoing shoulder surgery in November, has also started skating with the team again. 

This season, the Capitals have had to get by on a rotating cast of players because of injuries and COVID-19 issues. For instance, Oshie, normally a staple on the wing, has been limited to just 18 games, while Mantha has played in only 10.

Nicklas Backstrom missed the first two months of the season with a hip injury, and his production is slightly down. In net, Laviolette has alternated between Vanecek, Ilya Samsonov and others in part because no goalie has yet to clearly seize the starting job. 

The ups and downs of the season have led the Capitals to a 28-15-9 record — and Washington is just 8-9-2 since the start of the new year.  But the Capitals see reinforcements on the horizon.

“When you get all hands on the leash, kind of pulling on the right direction or on the rope, it can be a dangerous recipe for the opponent,” Wilson said. “It can be very successful when you get everyone in the right spot and knowing their role … that’s when you get excited about the success that we can have.” 

The Capitals have used this break to reemphasize parts of their scheme and work on conditioning, Laviolette said. The coach was tight-lipped when Oshie and Co. might return, but it appears he has started to envision which areas will improve upon their return. 

The power play, for example, should be boosted by Oshie’s return, Laviolette said. This season, the Capitals’ performance on the power play has lacked compared to their usual standards with Washington scoring only 16.1% of the time — the fifth-worst rate in the league. Last year, by comparison, the Capitals ranked third at 24.8%.

Laviolette said he already noticed an uptick in the power play as Backstrom gets closer to full health. He noted how over the last seven or eight games, the team’s power play has been better. And indeed, since Feb. 1, the Capitals are scoring on the power play 21.4% of the time — the 13th-best rate in that span.

“There’s no question that we needed to be better and we have been as of late,” Laviolette said. “But there’s still a ways to go. … When you get to the playoffs, special teams can dictate a game. That has to be on point as we enter the playoffs.” 

As of now, the Capitals would be a wild card team if the playoffs started today. Their subpar play in 2022 caused them to fall out of the top three teams in their division, but even with it, Washington still isn’t in danger of missing the postseason entirely — the Capitals are 10 points ahead of the next nonplayoff team (Detroit) in their conference. 

Washington, too, enters Thursday’s contest against the Rangers on a two-game winning streak — a streak that may extend if everyone gets healthy. 

“It’s good to have some of these high caliber players for the last 10 to 15 years in the league back in and pulling on the rope with everyone else,” Wilson said. 

• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.

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