Welcome to Game Four. Let’s Do. This. It’s on. It’s so on.
The Caps need this game and, if they play much like they did on Monday night, they have a good chance of evening up the series. Just to make the challenge a little more difficult, Barry Trotz appears to have made a lineup decision that makes his team worse. More on that below.
8 PM start, unfortunately. NBCSN, even more unfortunately.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 56-18-8 | 52.0% | 101.1 | 21.9% (5th) | 85.2% (2nd) |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 48-26-8 | 53.0% | 100.6 | 18.4% (16th) | 84.4 % (5th) |
Projected Lineup
WELP, Nate Schmidt is out and Mike Weber is in. This is peak silliness.
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Johansson – Kuznetsov – Williams
Chimera – Richards – Burakovsky
Winnik – Beagle – Wilson
Alzner – Niskanen
Orlov – Carlson
Weber– Chorney
Holtby
Nate Schmidt in Happier Times
Peter seems to be taking it well:
What a terrible idea. Basically squandering the advantage of the Letang suspension. https://t.co/6es2srNJZW
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) May 4, 2016
Spenser and Ian broke down the Weber-Schmidt lineup swap with more substance and more nuance.
Storylines
- Kris Letang is suspended for tonight’s game and the Pens made a couple interesting roster moves after the suspension was announced.
- Letang is not replaceable.
- Step into the Caps film room for a breakdown of Game Three, a game in which the Caps wasted a truly dominant performance. But could there be a breakout game coming from the captain?
- A loss tonight would be a big hit to the Caps chances of winning the series.
- The 9:30 Club is rocking the red.
- tfw you miss a Caps game to drive a race car.
- This series ain’t over, not by a long shot. Here’s how the Caps can even it up tonight.
- Please welcome to the bandwagon, Jim Vance. The long-time NBC4 anchor went to his very first hockey game this past Saturday.
This Date In History
THIS DATE IN 2009: Ovechkin & Crosby recorded dueling hat tricks in Game 2 of CSF https://t.co/x4IFIUGqQq #WSHvsPIT pic.twitter.com/RHduifxPhR
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 4, 2016
Exactly 3 years ago today! Mike Green's 1-0 OT winner against the Rangers @russianmachine pic.twitter.com/USeqnFwu6v
— Sean (@NondescriptSean) May 4, 2016
#timehop @russianmachine This still holds true to date. pic.twitter.com/01xD9YlN0H
— Ross (@_i2oss) May 4, 2016
Non-Hockey Thing To Distract Us
Chris from the comments and live blog dropping a #goodtweet
Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are the two best players in baseball and they're both in this area. Go watch a game.
— Chris Cerullo (@CJC_95) April 24, 2016
