Hello, St Paul. The NHL’s best team is in town and they’re delighted to be here. Thanks for having them, now please be prepared to lose. Again.
The Wild are 1-7-2 in their last ten games and have lost 6 straight. As a Caps fan, you may be unfamiliar with the number in the loss column being bigger than the number in the win column. Basically, what it means is that the Wild have lost in regulation seven times in the last 10 games. The Caps have lost in regulation nine times all season.
Breathe it in, everyone. Soak it in and enjoy this. Remember how Andy Bernard said he wished that there was a way to realize that he was in the good old days before he left them? This 2015-16 season will be looked back upon as the good old days. Enjoy them. As Ben said #TheseAreTheDays
I'm already sad for the day when we'll be saying "remember the 2015-16 #Caps? Those were the days." #TheseAreTheDays!!
— Ben Scarbs (@1bscarbro) February 10, 2016
The game is at 8pm on CSN-plus.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 39-9-4 | 52.2% | 102.1 | 24.4% | 84.0% |
| Minnesota Wild | 23-20-10 | 48.2% | 100.5 | 17.8% | 78.1% |
Projected Lineup
Well, there was no morning skate and as of the moment I’m typing this, we’re not sure if Richards will play. Stay tuned to the Twitter of Isabelle or Vogs for further lineup updates.
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Burakovsky – Kuznetsov – Williams
Chimera – Johansson – Wilson
Laich – Richards – Latta
Alzner – Niskanen
Schmidt – Carlson
Orlov – Chorney
Holtby
Power Play
Arik Parnass wrote an intelligent and detailed post on the Caps power play. I’m highlighting it instead of putting it under storylines because I think it’s an especially insightful read. The time and discipline this took to put together is commendable. Seriously, go read it.
Storylines
- Say what you want about Brooks Laich’s cap hit and performance but, at least to our outside eyes, he’s been a good teammate with how he’s handled his role this season. And he’s also such a nice guy that you can now have a ringtone of BL21 calling you beautiful.
- Alex Semin offered his thoughts on Evgeny Kuznetsov, who continues to rack up points at a dizzying rate.
- Kuznetsov is part of a second line that is lethal.
- It’s okay to believe in this Caps team.
- Orpik comin‘.
- Some nuggets on the Wild, including five random facts.
- I forgot to throw this into the pregame on Tuesday, but go read Jason’s still-relevant weekly preview.
- Could Dan Hamhuis be a trade target for the Caps?
- Remember when TSN thought a 40-ish game sample was enough to rank 13 players ahead of Sidney Crosby? Lol. Yeah, seems like he’s still an okay hockey player.
- A look at the hockey aging curve, applied specifically to Bobby Ryan in this case.
Victory’s Sweet Even Deep in the Cheap Seats
To bring it back to #TheseAreTheDays and appreciating this season while in the midst of it, for some reason this Conor Oberst song always calms me down and, for me, it’s always easier to appreciate the moment when my mind is calm. I may have shared it in a pregame before but OH WELL, I love this song (and album).
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