They want to know if he still got it. They say the game’s changed, they want to know how I feel about it. Andre Burakovsky is the name, he is back, and we will get to find out tonight if he is truly still Dre. Him and the rest of the Caps have the tough challenge of trying to best a red hot Henrik Lundqvist and the rest of his fellow Metro Divison Ranger friends.

The game starts at your regular 7 PM start time, on your regular NBCSWA TV station. I have your recap.

Record	15-10-2	17-11-1
Shot Attempt %	46.9%	47.6%
PDO	100.7	102.1
Power Play	21.5%	22.1%
Penalty Kill	80.5%	78.9%

Projected Lines

As noted previously, young Andre is back. However, TJ Oshie is still out and has yet to skate. Your probable lines:

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

Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Carlson
Djoos – Bowey

Holtby

Lobby For Your Right to Rage

There’s a SECOND bro I’m crying 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZTNPt7iSaO

— Monica Chon (@MonicaChon) December 7, 2017

“I didn’t need love, I had kegstands.”

Storylines

• The early reviews on #TopLineTom have been great. Are he and his linemates doing what it takes to make sure he stays on said top line?
• The Caps placed Tyler Graovac on waivers to make room for Andre Burakovsky‘s returning contract. He has now cleared waivers and been assigned to Hershey.
• Mr. Burakovsky is indeed back in tonight’s lineup for the first time since breaking his thumb in October.
• The Capitals and John Carlson are due to begin speaking about a possible contract extension. Bob McKenzie says those talks should begin before Christmas.
• Ben Lovejoy has become the first active NHL player to pledge his brain towards CTE research.
• Gary Bettman and company have announced that they will entertain an expansion process in Seattle after Key Arena was approved for $600 million in renovations.
• After getting his NHL debut out of the way, Travis Boyd was sent back to Hershey with the return of Burakovsky to the lineup.
• Reminder that Tom Wilson can indeed do simple mathematics.

Favorites of 2017

In honor of the 2017 Game Awards that occurred on Thursday night, I have chosen to give you all my favorite video game of the year. Three of my runner-ups were featured in the Game Awards, “Game of the Year” category, those being the eventual winner, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as well as Super Mario Odyssey and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).

However, my game of the year is one that “only” just came out around three months ago. It is also a battle royale game like PUBG. Fortnite Battle Royale is a constantly evolving, fast-paced take on the Hunger Games like genre that is battle royale. The development team is extremely dedicated and responsive, the gun play is fun and not hard to learn, material gathering and base building is highly suggested, and you can play completely solo, with a partner, or in a full four-person squad within their field of 100 players all dropped on one map. The goal is to be the last ones standing and to escape the “storm” that slowly encompasses the map as the game progresses.

I really like the art style of the game and it’s much more laid back and more “arcadey” than the more serious PUBG. They just released a new 50-vs-50 mode yesterday for a limited time. Here’s the trailer for that, but I’d recommend seeking out some real gameplay from your favorite YouTuber as well.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Rangers

Headline photo: Geoff Burke