Happy “day of the big game” or whatever we’re supposed to call it, lest the NFL get litigious. Before we eat nothing healthy and watch Justin Timberlake plunder African American culture, let’s first welcome our old pal Nate back to DC. We’ve got the Golden Knights in town early, so let’s get down to it.

Puck drop’s at 12:30 PM. If you’re not at Capital One Arena, you can watch with me, your recapper, via NBC Sports Washington.

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Record	34-13-4	30-16-5
Shot Attempt %	51.5%	48.7%
PDO	100.5	101.9
Power Play	20.4%	20.5%
Penalty Kill	82.0%	79.1%

Projected Lines

Jakub Vrana returns from scratchville. Grubi’s in net.

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

Djoos – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Bowey

Grubauer

Nate!

Nate Schmidt hasn’t played hockey in DC since May 10 of last year. Welcome him back with this fun fun poster. We hope to see a bunch of these during warmups.

Storylines

• Last time these two teams met was right before Christmas. It was a stomping. The Caps got shut out.
• TJ Oshie has been fined the maximum amount allowable for his cross-check on Kris Letang. Oshie’s got some thoughts about DOPS in general.
• Here’s Barry Trotz telling you what a good decision it was to bench Jakub Vrana.
• Nathan Walker had a good night for Hershey on Saturday.
• Dmitry Orlov really oughta shoot more, right?!
• Over at The Athletic, Tyler Dellow has a great story on how the Ovi Spot isn’t just in Washington anymore.

I Don’t Care About Football

At all. I don’t dislike it, not really. But the power with which I do not care could light up the night sky. Don’t like the Eagles. Don’t like the Patriots. Don’t like the rules. Don’t like the shape of the ball. Don’t like the TV coverage. Don’t like the commercials.

I do like Prince though, and I’m fully willing to nuclear bat-guano if his memory is disrespected.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Golden Knights

Headline image: Bruce Kluckhohn