Caps at Penguins pregame: Do not internet today

April 1, 2018 3:15 pm

Today is the worst day on the internet. I hope y’all who celebrate are enjoying your Passovers and Easters, and I hope it’s keeping you away from the frozen hellscape that is April Fools’ Day internet.

Let’s keep it light today, and then we’ll all convene at 7:30 PM to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins play host to the Washington Capitals, a game with big first round implications. Elyse is doing the recap, which should be delightful, so see you there.


Record	45-28-6	46-25-7
Shot Attempt %	51.9%	48.2%
PDO	98.1	101.5
Power Play	26.4%	22.6%
Penalty Kill	79.4%	80.2%

Projected Lines

From WaPo’s Isabelle Khurshudyan, here’s what the Caps did this morning on PPG Paints Arena or whatever it’s called.

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

Kempny – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Jerabek

Grubauer

One Thousand

At puck drop Alex Ovechkin will have played in his 1,000th regular season game. Here are some numbers from the first 999.

603 goals
515 assists
1,118 points
4,875 shots on goal
20,950 minutes on ice
647 penalty minutes
101 game-winning goals
21 hat tricks
2 penalty-shot goals in 12 penalty shot attempts
22 shootout goals in 70 attempts
44 faceoff wins out of 123 faceoffs
14,594 on-ice shot attempts (since 2007)
97 playoff games with 46 goals and 44 assists
7 all-star games
6 Richard Trophies, 3 Ted Lindsay Trophies, 3 Hart Trophies
12 “liked” tweets, 7 of which are him liking his own tweets, which is really the most Ovi thing

Storylines

TJ Oshie skated this morning but was previously listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury.
Shane Gersich, who is not playing tonight, got pranked again.
The Caps stunk against the Canes.
My neighbor Haley Skarupa threw out the first pitch at the Os game last night. Then the Os got destroyed.
The Vegas Golden Knights retired number 58.
Caps fans are a special breed, as this prom proposal illustrates.
The New Jersey Devils just got better:

We're getting our MoJo back! The #NJDevils have activated F @mjohansson90 off injured reserve. https://t.co/Y29WYwiv9h

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 1, 2018

Loffs Update

The Caps have three points and one extra game left versus the Penguins. A regulation win would lock up the division title and put the Caps over 100 points. That would also ensure that the Caps have a date with a wild card team, most likely the Philadelphia Flyers.