The Capitals gave us a compelling performance in Game One, snatching an important road victory and an early series lead. I suspect Jon Cooper’s Lightning will play much better in Game Two, which will air on NBC Sports at 8 PM, giving you plenty of time to spend time with the mother figures in your life before then.
I’m Peter, and I’ll be hosting your RMNB game coverage experience.
The final regular season stats:
| Record | 54-23-5 | 49-26-7 |
| Shot Attempt % | 52.3% | 48.3% |
| PDO | 102.1 | 101.4 |
| Power Play | 23.9% | 22.5% |
| Penalty Kill | 76.1% | 80.3% |
Projected Lines
No change at the morning skate, but there’s good news about Backstrom’s progress below. Per Isabelle:
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Vrana – Eller – Oshie
Burakovsky – Stephenson – Connolly
DSP – Beagle – Chiasson
Kempny – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Djoos
Holtby
“I don’t think that the game of hockey is going to define me one bit.”
Isabelle Khurshudyan has been slaying it lately on WaPo, but I want to highlight her recent profile of Barry Trotz, current Washington Capitals head coach, playing deeper than he ever has before but doing so without a contract for next season.
Trotz is a fine hockey coach. Any criticism I offer his coaching is along only the margins of what has been his storied career. Off the ice, Trotz’s character is unimpeachable. I admire the hell out of him.
You can subscribe to the Post here. I promise most of the money won’t go to Kathleen Parker.
Storylines
- Tom Wilson: “We’ve got work to do.” This is also how The Protomen’s Act II album ends.
- Nick Backstrom is making progress, but he’s not there yet. He skated with the team this morning, but did not participate in rushes. We’ll have more from Tampa soon.
- In Nicky’s absence, Lars Eller is stepping up.
- It’s pretty wild that Chris Kunitz got away with this.
- My official position on the Bolts astronaut is that I don’t care about the Bolts astronaut because he’s just a lame corporate advertisement. Glad to see Braden Holtby agrees with me.
- He’s a story that Brooks Orpik definitely wrote himself and certainly was not adapted by a ghostwriter based on a few notes and quotes from a short interview.
- The Leafs have named Kyle Dubas as their new GM. Great choice. He’s the result of the Bene Gesserit’s millenium-long selective breeding process to create a half Hockey Man/half analytics dweeb general manager.
- Finally, our pal Lindsey is hosting a watch party tonight at Atlas Brew Works. Atlas is located at 2052 West Virginia Ave, Suite 201 in Northeast. Go, have fun, send pics.
https://twitter.com/wreckoslovakia/status/995323423583817728
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mother figures of all varieties in our lives.
Thanks for teaching us to read, putting a computer in our home, getting the grass stains off the knees of our pants, tolerating our rock band practicing in the basement all the time, helping us move out, letting us come back late at night to steal Thanksgiving leftovers, and giving us the opportunity to practice our technology troubleshooting skills all the time to fix your wifi, computer, TV, lawnmower, toilet, and smart toaster.
Headline photo: Alex Ovechkin
