Photo: Amanda Bowen

The Flames are off to a terrible start, going 1-4-0 with a minus-9 goal differential through their first five games. The Caps come to town fresh off a successful homestand, save for one stinker against the Sharks, looking to extend the Flames’ misery.

The Flames made the playoffs last season despite being one of the worst possession teams in the league. Puck luck was on their side last season, as the Flames PDO, a flat 101, ranked fifth in the entire league. This left the analytics crowd predicting the Flames would come back down to earth this season, unless they somehow managed to get the bounces again in 2015-16. So far, the Flames have been a miserable possession team and haven’t had any puck luck.

Despite the fact that Brandon Bollig is a third line forward and Deryk Engelland tries to pass as an NHL defenseman, this isn’t a team the Caps should take lightly. They are a hardworking team due to start catching a break or two. Here’s to hoping those breaks don’t come tonight. Puck drop is at 9 PM on CSN.

Projected Lineup

Per Isabelle, the lines are unchanged.

Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Johansson – Backstrom – Williams
Chimera – Beagle – Wilson
Laich – Stephenson – Burakovsky

Orpik – Carlson
Alzner – Niskanen
Chorney – Orlov

Holtby

The World is Such a Wonderful Place

One out of one Band of Horses songs agree with the above heading.

Storylines

• Keep an eye out for the new variation the Caps have thrown into their breakout.
• A really good piece here by Mike Vogel on the Caps PP, including talk of giving Tom Wilson some time when the team is up a man.
• We like Mojo’s butt and we cannot lie.
• Jay Beagle, meet your dream job. Dream job, Jay Beagle.
• Evgeny Kuznetov sure makes some pretty plays. Check out a former NHL player helping RMNB break one of them down.
• #Sleepgate
• TJ Oshie‘s wedding video is making its way around the interwebs.
• It’s only been four games, but Brooks Laich is looking pretty good so far.
• Nick Backstrom credits his conditioning coach for why he didn’t seem to miss a beat in his return to the lineup.
• Speaking of Backstrom, he and Dmitry Orlov have shown little signs of rust so far.

U Up?

Given that it’s a 9 PM start, will you stay up for the whole game? Maybe sleep in a little or throw an extra cup of coffee on in the AM? Or maybe you’re like me and you always stay up entirely too late, so the game doesn’t require you to stay up any later than you usually would. Tell me what your plans are for this unconventional start time, Caps fans.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Flames