Caps vs Senators Pregame: Rivalry Night From DC

December 16, 2015 3:15 pm

Sleep tight, kids, with visions of sugarplums and evil bun-bun Ovi dancing in your heads.

Wednesday night is rivalry night, according to NBC Sports. This means that two random teams without any meaningful relationship play on a Wednesday and the game is on NBCSN and given the label “rivalry night” without any deliberate thought.

Tonight’s game is not on NBCSN, thank goodness, but it wouldn’t be the most random pair of teams to meet on a rivalry night. The Caps meet the Senators, which means we get to watch one of the best players in the league, Erik Karlsson, and a bunch of other dudes play hockey in their Senators jerseys.

Tonight’s game is on the trust CSN Plus. Puck drops at 7 PM.

Team	Record	Possession	PDO	Power Play	Penalty Kill
Washington Capitals	21-6-2	51.7%	101.7	23.4%	84.0%
Ottawa Senators	15-10-3	45.8%	102.2	20%	87.9%

Projected Lineup

Per Katie, a few changes:

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

Schmidt – Carlson
Alzner – Niskanen
Orlov – Chorney

Holtby

Out For a Rip

As a tribute to our Canadian opponents, here’s a song by and about our neighbors from the great white north. I discovered this song through RMNB community member Chris C.

Warning: Definitely NSFW with the language.

Storylines

Braden Holtby is playing the best hockey of his career.
Well, let’s just say you need to check out the Caps’ Christmas Card.
Uncle Joey loves Mike Green and you should too.
What has Brooks Orpik‘s injury meant for the team’s possession, if anything at all.
The Caps should consider taking TJ Oshie off the penalty kill.
Andre Burakovsky is not the same dude this season in terms of playing the puck game. He’s still the same person… or so he says…
The Ottawa Senators have their own version of the Nationals’ Racing Presidents. Sadly, we won’t see a crossover promo tonight.

Full Torts Incoming?

Johansen benched by Tortorella for 2nd time vs. Stars https://t.co/qKdsG8sIUi pic.twitter.com/fxl0nVkhcZ

— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) December 16, 2015