Bah gawd! It’s another Metropolitan Division matchup.
The Caps have traveled up I-95 to the state that natives always claim “is actually a good state.” That’s right, New Jersey!
The Capitals might look a tad rusty, since they’re coming off a bye week and also don’t have Andre Burakovsky in the lineup. The Devils currently sit five points behind the Capitals and have played two less games. That’s all fine and dandy, but it won’t be enough when it’s crunch time in the division. As the SBNation blog All About the Jersey says, for the Devils to make the playoffs, “it’s do-or-die with these games.”
The game begins at 7:00 PM on NBCSN, (or MSG+ for those of us in the Big Apple Area). Mr. Pat Holden will bring you that sweet, sweet recap.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 23-12-8 | 28-14-3 |
| Shot Attempt % | 48.3% | 48.4% |
| PDO | 100.8 | 101.6 |
| Power Play | 22.1% | 19.6% |
| Penalty Kill | 82.4% | 79.1% |
Projected Lines
The morning skate lines were reported by Jesse Dougherty at the Washington Post. Andre Burakovsky rotated in on the fourth line but was not in initial rushes. Trotz has declared him a healthy scratch because he missed the last two games before the bye week and hasn’t been on ice for over a week.
Ovechkin – Backstrom – DSP
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Connolly – Eller – Oshie
Stephenson – Beagle – Chiasson
Djoos – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Bowey
Holtby
Dangle City
Just a small preview of what you might see later *brushes off TJ’s shoulder*
No matter what sized biscuit you send his way, @TJOshie77 gonna dangle it. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/R5R8kJ5msA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 18, 2018
Storylines
- TJ Oshie signed a deal with Ledo’s Pizza. This is great because Ledo’s is probably the best pizza in the area (aside from Church Street Pizza in Vienna, VA), please do not fight me on this issue.
- Brett Connolly, Taylor Chorney, Braden Holtby, and Tom Wilson all traveled to Punta Cana together during the bye week. I have officially dubbed them as the “Punta Cana Posse”.
- In Bears news, defender Colby Williams made a big ol’ hit and got suspended for three games. Take a look at the hit and see what you think because…it’s quite controversial.
- The TopGolf charity event is back! All the proceeds will go to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation Mid-Atlantic. Get your tickets ASAP because I hear it’s a suuuuper good time.
- Andre Burakovsky and Jakub Vrana took a picture with a dolphin. I don’t think I need to provide any further context.
- The NHL chose their “talent” for the 2018 All-Star Game and a lot of people were not happy about the choice. Myself included.
- You think you’ve seen art maybe in a museum of some sort…but you’ve never seen art quite like when we did that Google face match thing with members of the Capitals team.
- Elliotte Friedman thinks Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan’s contract might be done at the end of the season.
- The Capitals released pictures of the Stadium Series jerseys and people, naturally, had some hot takes.
- But I will say, while we’re talking about the new jerseys, I’m all for a cool little hidden nugget in logos.
- In 1958, Willie O’Ree made history by becoming the first black player to ever appear in an NHL game. Madison Bowey, Devante Smith-Pelly, and TJ Oshie had the opportunity to provide some comments about what that accomplishment meant to them.
Fiona the Hippo
I’d like to shift your focus a bit to one of the most important sensations to hit the planet. Her name is Fiona and she is a hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo. She just celebrated her first birthday and she is so fierce. Here is Fiona trying snow for the first time. A bit apprehensive for sure, but her mom is the one having the good time today.
Fiona the hippo tries snow for the very first time at the Cincinnati Zoo—but it’s her mom who’s really having a blast. https://t.co/jsRyojNjs1 pic.twitter.com/hsECf656j1
— ABC News (@ABC) January 16, 2018
Fiona is not camera shy.
Fiona’s never shied away from the cameras. #teamfiona pic.twitter.com/q0E0M8GhVf
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) January 13, 2018
You can even buy her merch and it will support #TeamFiona. She has shirts, pottery, books, and basically everything you will ever need. She even has some ice cream that you can buy to celebrate her birthday:
Anyway, Fiona is one of the little things that makes me (and my sister) very happy in the world. I thought I would spread the joy.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Devils
Headline image: NHL.com
