Photo: Amanda Bowen
It’s game 79 of the regular season for the Caps. They’ve had the standings locked up since about game 7. Yes, it’d be nice to beat the Pens. And of course, it would be encouraging to see a great effort from the guys in red as the playoffs grow nearer. But Jean-Paul Sartre would definitely say “I told you so” when we come to the realization that the existence of this game precedes its essence.
But the great thing about meaningless things is that we’re left free to assign our own meaning. There’s some cool stuff that we can choose to care about to make this game more enjoyable. There’s Braden Holtby‘s pursuit of the single-season record for wins by a goalie and Alex Ovechkin trying to hit the 50 goal mark again. Oh, and TJ Oshie is trying to reach 30 goals for the first time in his career, but all but one of us knew all along that would never happen.
The game is at 7 on CSN. Please, everyone stay healthy.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 55-17-7 | 51.9% | 101.0 | 22.7% (3rd) | 84.5% (4th) |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 47-25-8 | 53.2% | 100.7 | 18.8% (16th) | 84.0% (6th) |
Projected Lineup
Per Katie Brown: Backstrom’s back and the defensive pairs are changed a little (Hello, Schmidt/Orlov reunion)
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Burakovsky – Kuznetsov – Williams
Chimera – Johansson – Wilson
Winnik – Richards – Beagle
Orpik – Carlson
Alzner – Niskanen
Schmidt – Orlov
Holtby
#RMNB9 is on Saturday
Seriously, did you freaking respond to the Facebook invite yet or not? DO IT
Storylines
- Barry Trotz was voted the best coach in the NHL by his peers.
- Nate Schmidt got hooked up with some dope swag.
- Holtby says he’ll make up for the loss against the Isles.
- Photos from Caps vs Isles.
- How this Caps team compares to teams from the past.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov is due.
- We’re zeroing in on who the Caps will play in the first round.
- Caps prospects to watch at the Frozen Four.
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