The Capitals earned a rousing win over the Ottawa Senators on Thanksgiving Eve, boosted maybe by the reunion of Nick Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. Now, one day after perhaps eating too many carbs, that pair will be tested against the league’s hottest team, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It’s an early one at Capital One Arena. 5 PM start, to be aired on NBCSWAKKAWAKKAWAKKA. I’m on recap duty, so please give me a fun hockey game to watch and write about.

Record	16-3-2	12-10-1
Shot Attempt %	52.0%	48.0%
PDO	102.7	100.9
Power Play	27.2%	21.1%
Penalty Kill	83.3%	77.4%

Projected Lines

We’re keeping Ovi and Backy together, plus Grubauer gets the start. Your lines, as reported by the intrepid Isabelle Khushudyan:

Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Connolly – Eller – DSP
Stephenson – Beagle – Chiasson

Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Carlson
Chorney – Bowey

Grubauer

It Doesn’t Matter…

…who Alex Ovechkin’s center is. I wrote that article last spring. I’m not sure if it’s still right, but maybe we’ll find out soon. My thesis was that the Ovechkin got nearly identical possession with both Kuznetsov and Backstrom when they were apart from Karl Alzner’s troubled 2016-17 – but Ovi-Backstrom spent way more time with him.

I wonder if poor, overused Brooks Orpik is having a similar effect this time around. The sample size with Ovi and Backstrom is very small (barely over 30 minutes), but the early returns are encouraging: Orpik had one of his best 5-on-5 games against the Senators on Wednesday. I’d be surprised if the top-six toggle “fixes” this team, but I’d also be happy.

Storylines

• The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the league standings right now. They’re also damn good, with solid even-strength play, a withering power play, big numbers put up by Nikita Kucherov (17 goals, 16 assists), and excellent goaltending by breakout star Andrei Vasilevskiy.
• Philipp Grubauer gets the start so we should expect Holtby to play Saturday in Toronto. Tomorrow will be Grubi’s 26th birthday.
• John Carlson will be upping his dad strength this spring. He and wife Gina are expecting a baby boy early next year.
• Injury updates: Graovac up, Djoos on IR. Poor Christian had been tremendous before his injury, which Barry Trotz doesn’t want to tell you is a concussion.
• Brooks Laich has been placed on waivers by the LA Kings.
• Jakub Vrana had a career game on Wednesday, and it wasn’t just the highlights. Check out this important play.
• The Caps’ top line, which is the one with Nicky on it, was all in the penalty box at the same time.
• ICYMI: What I’m thankful for.

Also, our merch shop has a 20 percent off sale through Monday. Check out the deals.

Why I Don’t Watch Wrestling

Chris Cerullo shared a cheeky video about pro wrestling in the last pregame. Allow me now to counter with this article by Dan O’Sullivan from 2014 detailing the corrupt and predatory business practices that have destroyed the bodies and minds of generations of professional wrestlers and their families.

Here’s a fun graf from O’Sullivan:

The fatal drug overdoses, too many to count — Brian Pillman, Brian “Crush” Adams, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, Louie Spicolli. Three of the Von Erich brothers killed themselves; a fourth, the star, David Von Erich, overdosed at the tender age of twenty-five. Macho Man Randy Savage, and his lovely consort, the alluring Miss Elizabeth, are both dead; Miss Elizabeth’s last boyfriend, Lex Luger, is partially paralyzed from a stroke. Dino Bravo was shot dead while watching hockey; his murder has never been solved. Chris Kanyon, the first WWE wrestler to come out as gay, sued McMahon over the “independent contractor” scam, fell out of work, and, suffering from bipolar depression, killed himself. Junkyard Dog fell asleep driving and crashed. Eddie Guerrero died of a heart attack at thirty-eight, so wracked by pain in his final bouts that he could barely wrestle. The list doesn’t end.

Vince McMahon will never again get my dollars or eyeballs.

Full Coverage of Caps vs Lightning

Headline photo: Patrick McDermott