It’s been five long days since the Caps last suited up for NHL action. This afternoon, a refreshed Washington squad faces the St. Louis Blues, who are battling for the Central division lead, kinda sorta. This game will be number 42 in the books, so we’re officially in the back half now.

3 PM on NBCSWA. I’m Peter, and I’ll be recapping the stuff and things for you.

Record	26-16-2	25-13-3
Shot Attempt %	51.5%	48.6%
PDO	100.5	101.9
Power Play	14.8%	19.2%
Penalty Kill	82.2%	80.3%

Projected Lines

Some dudes are back. Here’s the lines from yesterday, by way of Tom Gulitti‏.

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

Orlov – Niskanen
Djoos – Carlson
Orpik – Bowey

Holtby

Season-to-season Changes

I try to do a freeform analytical study every day on my lunch break just to keep my brain fresh. On Friday I looked at how on-ice shot-attempt percentage has changed from last season to now. The top three drops includes two Capitals. Brooks Orpik dropped 9.8 points, Vegas defender Brayden McNabb dropped 7.8, and Evgeny Kuznetsov dropped 7.8. (Weird: all three have some connection to Nate Schmidt.)

The three biggest improvements were Dmitry Kulikov, who jumped from Buffalo to Winnipeg and gained 8.4 points; Josh Anderson, whose has also seen a major promotion in ice time and linemates in Lumbus; and Derek Ryan in Carolina, who seems to be riding the possession wave in Raleigh.

Storylines

• Matt Niskanen returns to play. Andre Burakovsky probably will return from healthy scratchville and should be on the fourth line.

Trotz said Holtby is starting and D Matt Niskanen is good to go. On Andre Burakovsky getting back in, he said, "possibly."

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) January 7, 2018

• Alex Ovechkin and Barry Trotz are going to the ASG.
• Kuzy filled in as goalie this week.
• Here’s the Central Division standings. A win could put the Blues up top, but they’ve played two more games than the Peg and three more than the Preds.

• Jaromir Jagr is on the outs with Calgary.
• Claude Giroux just handed the baton to his own but as best player in the world.
• Peter and Brendan and Pat got in an argument about hockey and grammar.
• Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba. Sithi uhm ingonyama.
• Finally: I command you to consult Cara’s Casino Night photos if you have not already. They are each and every one treasures.

Halt and Catch Fire

I’m furious with all of you for not telling me about this show. It’s about 1980’s computer developers and the technology explosion, but it’s also a collection of lovable characters who drive you nuts, and you just wanna bump their heads together and tell them that if they could just play nice they could change the world. Two thumbs up.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Blues

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk