Photo: Patrick Smith
Some sort of sporting event will be played at the Verizon Center tonight. Sources say the sporting event will be a game called hockey. Details are scarce at this time, but hockey is reportedly a game that was popular among humans in Washington DC prior to the great blizzard of 2016. We couldn’t get confirmation, but social media says this game is played on ice and often dominated by a team from DC that wears red.
If we’ve piqued your interest with this whole “hockey” thing, turn your television dial to the NBC Sports Network at 8 PM to see what it’s all about.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 35-8-3 | 52% | 102.1 | 27.1% | 84.8% |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 20-18-8 | 49% | 100.4 | 17.4% | 77.7% |
Projected Lineup
Per Katie Brown, who just so happens to write for NHL.com. Carlson might play. Here’s how the lines looked at the morning skate:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Burakovsky – Kuznetsov – Williams
Chimera – Johansson – Wilson
Laich – Richards – Latta
Alzner – Niskanen
Schmidt – Carlson
Orlov – Chorney
Holtby
Flyers Talk
The Flyers are an okay team. They are not a great team. They will probably miss the playoffs and certainly aren’t considered a legitimate contender. This is partially because the previous regime in Philly left a mess of a cap situation for Ron Hextall to sort out.
But Hextall has done a great job sorting out the mess so far. There are still bad deals on the books and major holes on the roster, but this team is positioning itself for a major reload over the next few seasons. Don’t expect them to be mediocre for too long. They are headed in the right direction.
Storylines
- Michael Neuvirth returns to DC to face his weakest competition yet. Translation: I hope he gets shelled.
- Despite the long layoff, the Caps still lead the NHL.
- But are they cut out for playoff success?
- Evgeny Kuznetsov gives the Caps scoring depth they haven’t seen in a very long time.
- Mike Richards’ court date got postponed.
- Oh where, oh where could player tracking technology be?
- The best stadium in baseball looked, of course, beautiful in the snow.
- The Caps had some fun in the blizzard. The great Dan Steinberg is on this beat too.
- Nate Schmidt continues to have more fun than anyone.
- Brooks Laich spent part of his post-blizzard time being a really nice guy.
Your Turn
How’d you spend your blizzard? I shoveled, played card games, went for walks around my hood, visited a local watering hole, and watched the first five episodes of Making a Murderer.
