Game Two of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals is Saturday night in D.C.
While the Penguins hope to extend their lead in the series and their luck on the road, the Capitals will be swapping in Paul Carey for Brett Connolly in hopes to close on more scoring opportunities.
It’s not that the Capitals played horribly in Game One, but maybe capitalizing on more scoring chances, praying that the referees got their eyes checked, and crossing our fingers for some lucky bounces, the Capitals could be going to Pittsburgh in a tied series.
Puck drop is a pinch after 8 PM on NBC. Good tweet Pete will have your recap.
Penguins lead the series 1-0.
| Team | Record | SA% | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Capitals | 55-19-8 | 53.2% | 102.7 | 23.1% (4th) | 83.8% (7th) |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 50-21-11 | 50.7% | 101.6 | 23.1% (3rd) | 79.8% (20th) |
Projected Lines
Tiny lil’ change up. Paul Carey is in for Brett Connolly.
Trotz called Carey last night and told him he’d be in. Said he wasn’t getting Connolly enough opportunity, so decided to go with new look.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 29, 2017
The good boys:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Johansson – Kuznetsov – Williams
Burakovsky – Eller – Wilson
Winnik – Beagle – Carey
Schmidt – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Shattenkirk
Holtby
Keep your eyes peeled, Carl Hagelin could be making a return tonight. Hagelin has been out since March 11 with a lower-body injury.
The baddest boys:
Guentzel – Crosby – Hornqvist
Rust – Malkin– Kessel
Wilson– Bonino– Sheary
Kunitz – Cullen– Kuhnhackl
Dumoulin – Hainsey
Maatta – Daley
Cole – Schultz
Fleury
Playoff Chances
Not feeling so hot about Micah’s latest graph. Whatever, stats don’t matter. It’s all about the #grit.
Playoff chances going into Saturday’s games. pic.twitter.com/pFqO3K5C17
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) April 29, 2017
Sizing Up the Penguins
How do the Capitals look when they’re up against the Penguins? We have some pretty nifty posts for you to check out.
Storylines
- The RMNB store has a brand new tee and it might be the best one yet??
- David Letterman was at the last game and some of our readers took some excellent pictures with him.
- Is home ice really an advantage in the playoffs? Maybe not.
- Capitals goaltending prospect Ilya Samsonov had successful surgery in Rome!
- Pens fans asked us politely to see the “too many men on the ice” call the refs missed last game. So, Peter wrote a post about it.
- Need to recheck the numbers from the last game? Spoiler alert: everything will probably be okay.
- Every single time the Verizon Center gives out the red glowsticks, the pictures always look AMAZING. Our own Amanda Bowen took some lovely shots from Game One.
- Braden Holtby is letting you know that he WILL be stopping that next Sidney Crosby “goal”.
- Pssst…my people over 21: You can buy one of the Caps goal light beer cups for a limited time. They’re so cheap, even I bought one.
- Losing Game One was a big ol’ bummer, but here is an argument why that actually might not be so bad.
- David vs. Goliath, Batman vs. Superman, Holtby vs. Fleury.
- RMNB’s very own Amanda Bowen snagged some excellent photos from Game One. Be sure to give them all a look.
D.C. Rising
The ‘zards are moving on to the next round of the NBA playoffs after they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Game Six last night (sounds familiar). The next team they will be facing will be the Boston Celtics.
But, before we need to worry about those leprechaun weirdos in Massachusetts, here is John Wall saying “bye bye” in Atlanta:
already a DC Legend pic.twitter.com/X8crQqm5lu
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) April 29, 2017
This is also a reminder to you that things are going to be getting just a tad bit busier…
So starting last Wednesday, either the Caps or Wiz will have a playoff game every day for nine straight days.
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) April 29, 2017
May 10 could be insane. Orioles at Nats Park; possible Caps-Penguins game 7 at Verizon; possible Wiz-Celtics game 5 in Boston. Gracious.
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) April 29, 2017
Full Coverage of Caps vs Penguins
Headline photo: Amanda Bowen 🙂
