March 9 morning skate notes

A happy and fulfilling Wednesday morning to you, Insiders. Jonathan Quick took the ice at 9:46 a.m. and had the entire sheet to himself, as you can see above.

When he was joined by his teammates several moments later, the team aligned as so:

Lucic-Kopitar-Carter
Pearson-Lecavalier-Toffoli
King-Lewis-Brown
Clifford-Shore-Versteeg

Scuderi-Doughty
Muzzin-Martinez
McNabb-Schenn

-Quick left the ice first at the morning skate and is expected to start against the Capitals, who have opened up a four-game road trip with 2-1 wins (the first in overtime, the second in a shootout) over the Bruins and Ducks. They’ll face the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday.

-Andy Andreoff and Jamie McBain remained on the ice for extra work with Jhonas Enroth, so they’re likely out of the lineup tonight.

-We spoke with Rob Scuderi, and I’ll have a story up on the defenseman’s re-acclimation to the Kings. After Jeff Carter’s recent 300-goal milestone, Scuderi is now honing in on 100 career assists after logging a pair of assists in his first five games with Los Angeles. Could he reach that barrier tonight with a two-assist effort? “Well, I wouldn’t hold your breath,” he answered. I’ll also have a story up in the coming days about players reaching milestones and teammates making sure that the puck is collected (as we saw from Anze Kopitar’s retrieval of Jeff Carter’s 300-goal puck two nights ago).

-As for Washington, here are some reads from Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: Justin Williams, Mike Richards return to Staples Center, Capitals’ latest fourth line is tops with Coach Barry Trotz and Alex Ovechkin hangs with Kobe Bryant and Novak Djokovic.

When we were in Arlington, Va. at a Capitals practice last month, here’s what Williams had to say about his return trip to Staples Center: “I say it’ll be emotional, and I know it will be. Even talking about it right now kind of hits me a little bit knowing that the best years of my career were there. I don’t know. I guess I’m just going to enjoy it, and obviously I want to win, and I can’t put to emphasis on it, but at the same time I’m extremely excited to do it, and I have it circled on my calendar, for sure.”

The Caps’ morning skate is about to start at Staples Center, and Reign Insider Lindsay Czarnecki is already on site to report in advance of what should be a highly charged, emotional game between the two Stanley Cup contenders. More to come from Lindsay and me throughout the day, including some Darryl Sutter quotes in a few minutes. Enjoy your day, Insiders.