The Caps lost a disappointing game to the Devils a couple nights ago, but the chance for revenge is here already.
Today at 1 PM in New Jersey, the Washington Capitals will end the year 2016 by literally fighting Satan. Feels appropriate.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Devils | 14-15-7 | 47.0% | 98.4 | 15.1% | 82.6% |
| Washington Capitals | 20-9-5 | 53.6% | 101.6 | 17.6% | 85.8% |
Projected Lines
According to Isabelle of WaPo, here’s how they lined up yesterday:
Ovechkin – Backstrom– Oshie
Johansson – Kuznetsov – Williams
Connolly – Eller – Burakovsky
Winnik – Beagle – Wilson
Alzner – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Schmidt
Holtby
Last Game
That was a fluke, guys. The team that dominates as much as Washington did wins that game like that 9 times out of 10, unless the goalie is white-hot.
https://twitter.com/DTMAboutHeart/status/814812628275101696
Expected win percentage was about 93 percent.
This head-to-head chart comes from the great Muneeb Alam.
Aside from Beagle, Wilson, and Winnik, this was a smackdown. Look at Burakovsky’s numbers against the second line. Look at Schmidt and Orpik versus Jersey’s bottom nine and bottom pair. If the Caps can muster the same performance or better, they’ll win in a walk today.
Storylines
- Braden Holtby on the topic of socks.
- They’re no longer teammates, but Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich are still exchanging barbs.
- Prospect heat: Ilya Samsonov had this move at World Juniors.
- Miles Wood must pay for this autograph.
Twenty Sixteen
Frankly, friends, this year kicked my ass. “Change” is one thing, but what I experienced would be better termed “tumult.” And yet, I’m strangely plucky as I look to the horizon. Here’s why:
- My 2016 wasn’t a fraction as bad as others’. Many good and great people won’t get to see 2017 at all, and I’ll think of them as I clink a drink at midnight. In a great song, Jason Isbell put it like this: You should know / compared to people on a global scale / Our kind has had it relatively easy. I’ll make that gratitude and awareness animate me next year.
- I shared 2016, an awful year, with friends and family and readers and bulldogs. Nothing sucks quite as bad once you’re standing next to someone you love. Thank you for reading our silly website if you read it, and thank you for writing it if you write it. Thank you for being my pal, and thank you for being my bulldog. I love you all more than I’ll ever tell you because it’s a secret.
- Twenty seventeen will be better. We’ll lose more artists whose work we care bunches about, and we’ll have new struggles that will test our mettle. But I’m going to put my back into this one because I have a feeling we’re getting pretty close to rolling that rock up the hill — and if not, I’m starting to enjoy the rolling anyway.
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