The spirit of ’09 (Photo: Bruce Bennett)
The Washington Capitals enjoyed their last elimination game, a 3-1 win on home ice, but there’s no time for congratulations. To keep their season alive, the Caps must now win on enemy territory against a very good opponent. It won’t be easy, but this is the freaking Capitals in May. It has never been easy.
Puck drops at 8 PM in Pittsburgh. Game’s on NBC Sports. I’m told the Chris From the Comments Liveblog will be back as well.
| 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
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Johansson – Backstrom – Burakovsky
Chimera – Beagle – Williams
Winnik – Richards – Wilson
Alzner – Niskanen
Orpik – Carlson
Orlov – Chorney
Holtby
Past, Prologue
Washington is 7-1 in Ovechkin era when they can be eliminated but not eliminate their opponent. Also 4-0 in Game 6s trailing 3-2 since '08.
— Ted Starkey (@TedStarkey) May 10, 2016
The headline is flip two coins, but unless you hit heads on the first, the second is moot. The Caps have a storied history of these types of games, and I intend to watch them write a new chapter tonight.
(For the record, I just flipped Keith, a Coin, twice and hit heads both times.)
Storylines
- Keys to the game, from Spenser Smallwood. List doesn’t include “talk is cheap, get pucks deep” which will be my next lower back tattoo.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov has been fantastic this postseason as long as you don’t count scoring, which I don’t, because I am a broken man. So broken a teammate kiss does nothing for me.
- Lots of balls.
- Brooks Orpik returns from suspension. Nate Schmidt takes a seat.
- Orpik’s victim, Olli Maatta, may return as well.
- There is goalie drama in Pittsburgh! JK no there’s not. It’s definitely Murray. To start at least.
- Justin Williams cannot ball. TJ Oshie likes getting spanked. Keep RMNB weird in 2016.
- Michael Latta: scratched and loving it.
- Barry Trotz doesn’t make a lot of money compared to his peers.
- The Caps will depend on Braden Holtby again tonight. That’s worked out well for them so far.
Many more links over at Japers Rink.
Final Thought
Whatever luck you live by, let’s hope it lasts the night.
