That pic is from 2011 and it’s awesome. (Photo: Gary Wiepert)
The Capitals played terrifically last night en route to a shutout win over the rival Boston Bruins. That was a high-stakes game against a good foe. Tonight: not so much.
Tonight the Caps will pad their stats and hopefully not blow a solid chance at two points on the road in Buffalo.
Puck drops at 7 PM. The game’s on CSN Plus, so if I find out you watched the NBC Sports feed I will flip out on you.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 37-23-10 | 51.8% | 100.3 | 25.0% | 81.3% |
| Buffalo Sabres | 19-43-6 | 36.6% | 100.1 | 10.9% | 74.7% |
Projected Lineup
No skate until this evening, so here’s how they looked last night.
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Glencross – Kuznetsov – Brouwer
Chimera – Fehr – Ward
Johansson – Laich – Conner
Schmidt – Carlson
Alzner – Niskanen
Green – Gleason
Holtby
Best Thing on the Internet Today
The NCAA is corrupt as fudge.
Storylines
- With Peters hurt, it’s probably Holtby vs Lindback tonight.
- I wish I had time to generate a cumulative shot-attempt differential chart for the Sabres. Just take my word for it: They’re baaaaad. It’s not just even strength; their special teams index– usually around 100– is like 86. If the Caps blows this…
- The Capitals have a shot-generation problem.
- John Carlson or Mike Green for PPQB? That’s a good problem to have.
- Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt Schmidt.
- With eight shutouts in the bank, Braden Holtby has to entertain us with hockey violence and his icy demeanor.
What You’re Missing on TV Tonight
Better Call Saul is definition of prestige television. Auteur direction, writing that explores digressions and lets stories breath, and spellbinding acting by Odenkirk, McKean, and– holy crap Jonathan Banks has raaaaaaange. With the outcome of the story already certain (just like all tragedies since the beginning of drama), we’re just enjoying and despairing at the journey there.
