Hear that sound? Sounds like the death rattle of the 2015-16 regular season. The Caps have four more games until the Next Thing begins. We can talk about that Next Thing later– for now we’ve got a date with the Islanders.

Hang out with us at 7 PM on CSN please.

Projected Lineup

Morning skate was optional today, but here’s how they lined up yesterday. From Isa:

Ovechkin – Johansson – Oshie
Burakovsky – Kuznetsov – Williams
Chimera – Beagle – Wilson
Winnik – Richards – Galiev

Schmidt – Carlson
Alzner – Niskanen
Orpik – Orlov

Holtby

There’s also this:

Backstrom is out. Looks like Latta will be in and Galiev will be out.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 5, 2016

so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Playoff Matchup Update

Looking like Philly. Mmm Tony Lukes.

Storylines

• The Caps have been shooting blanks at 5v5 lately. They might not be able to rely on special teams tonight: the Isles are among the best in the league at killing penalties. So it’s time to turn that shooting slump around. Everything else is looking real good.
• No Nick Backstrom until he’s 100%.
• Braden Holtby goes for Martin Brodeur’s single-season win record tonight. Err… to tie it. You know what I mean.
• We wrote two thoughtful pieces parsing the thought processes underlying the discussion of calling a player a “bust.” Here’s Myan’s piece, here’s mine. Hers is smart, mine is — hopefully– sorta funny.
• The unsealed documents brouhaha told us the hidden story behind Ovi’s mirrored visor.
• I’d write more, but today is nuts. Someone sideswiped my car (parked, unoccupied) and dipped out without leaving a note. Might be totalled. Plus I’m sick. Yech.

#RMNB9 is on Saturday

You are invited.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Islanders