After Saturday night the Caps will have a week off. Their next game comes on February 18, with the Red Wings in Detroit. But before that and before the lull, we’ve got Randy Carlyle’s Anaheim Ducks to contend with.
Puck drop is at 7:30 PM on CSN.
| Team | Record | SA% | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Capitals | 38-11-6 | 53.0% | 104.8 | 21.9% | 84.4% |
| Anaheim Ducks | 29-17-10 | 50.0% | 99.8 | 20.8% | 84.0% |
Projected Lines
Today’s skate was optional, so tonight’s lines are a little mysterious. Here’s our best guess, with Sanford fitting in for Burakovsky’s spot and no other changes.
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Johansson – Kuznetsov – Williams
Connolly – Eller – Sanford
Winnik – Beagle – Wilson
Alzner – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Schmidt
Holtby
Ian, Alan, and Brisket
I only leave my basement for special occasions #forgotmywallet #dinneronalan @MayHockeyCSN pic.twitter.com/WohL35fkHp
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) February 11, 2017
Former Bruin, Oiler, Star, Flame, and Capital Alan May noshed on low-and-slow meat with Ian last night in Frederick. We can assume much sass was exchanged.
Happy 95th Grandma Locker!
Storylines
- Andre Burakovsky broke his hand blocking a shot. He will be out until late March.
- With Andre out, Lars Eller might get some more powerplay time.
- Despite doing something gross, Evgeny Kuznetsov is expected to play.
- Alex Ovechkin did not have a shot on goal last game, the first time that’s happened since 2013.
- The Caps have scored five-plus goals in ten straight home games. That hasn’t happened since the ’71 Bruins, back when goals were way more plentiful than today.
- Henrik Zetterberg had some cool words for the Caps compared to the Blue Jackets, even though the Caps beat Z’s team harder than the Jackets did.
- Non all-star Nick Backstrom is quiet
- …ly tied for third in league scoring. See what I did there?
- Here’s two tweets from me illustrating how the Caps offense and defense rank in the last decade. The tiny little red lines at far left are the 2016-17 Caps.
How the Caps offense ranks since 07-08. pic.twitter.com/Xbrofw0eaM
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) February 10, 2017
And how the Caps defense ranks since 07-08. pic.twitter.com/cIFq4479cw
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) February 10, 2017
What to Do Over Break?
Without hockey games, we’re gonna have to fill the hours somehow. Here on RMNB, we’ll have a glut of analysis pieces coming, including one I’m pretty excited about.
I’m sure we’ll have coverage of whatever these galoots do over their short vacation too.
And me personally, I’m gonna do RMNB’s taxes, work on a special new project, and me and Doctor Girlfriend are gonna go to Mexico for a few days.
I leave you with this.
Full Coverage of Caps vs Ducks
Headline photo: Monumental Sports
