The Capitals are at home and hosting the Buffalo Sabres this evening. Doesn’t it feel like we just did this? It’s because we did and not even a week ago. The Capitals are hoping to get a W after their loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night but whatever, it’s brushed off and the Capitals are still at the top of the Metro. Hopefully, the return of Andre Burakovsky to the lineup can help solve some of the speed issues that the Caps were facing last game.

The puck will be dropping at 7 PM and you can watch on NBCSN. If you need a stream, we have ya covered. Stream the pregame and the post game live on NBCSWA+ or on your mobile devices.

Record	20-10-5	20-10-3
Shot Attempt %	48.1%	49.5%
PDO	101.1	103.2
Power Play	19.1%	25.0%
Penalty Kill	82.5%	75.2%

Projected Lines

Andre Burakovsky and Chandler Stephenson are back in the expected lineup tonight. Isabelle from the Washington Post said Coach Reirden mentioned he felt speed was lacking against Pens. This could be why Burakovsky and Stephenson are back:

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

Kempny – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Siegenthaler – Bowey

Holtby

Dancing Leafs

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner joined the National Ballet of Canada during their performance of “The Nutcracker” Marner and Matthews were Cannon Dolls and if you think this sounds hilarious, it was. I just wasn’t ready for it to also melt my heart???

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner performing in The Nutcracker as Cannon Dolls pic.twitter.com/zbCAt2QvqL

— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) December 20, 2018

Storylines

• Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Sidney Crosby got all UP in his feelings about Alex Ovechkin again. Like at this point, maybe Crosby should just admit that he has multiple posters of Ovi in his room? We get it, you’re obsessed with him.
• You can buy Alex Oveckin‘s game-used gear from the NHL store. I already have dibs on trying to extract his DNA from an article of clothing so we can clone more of him.
• People loooooooove to watch the Capitals play the Penguins. Who can blame them, it’s always such a blast.
• “It had to be done sooner or later” –Tom Wilson about his fight with Jamie Oleksiak. I also say this after I do my Bruce Springsteen impression of “Born to Run” at karaoke. People always know it’s comin’.
• Caps fans are so fun especially when they take pictures with a bunch of penguins.
• Alex Ovechkin is the star of the NHL holiday video. Of course he was.
• Interesting that the Capitals aren’t taking a closer look at Devante Smith-Pelly when they’re concerned about their speed.
• Speaking of Devante Smith-Pelly, he continues to be an angel.

Bohemian baby

One of my favorite videos that I found in the year of our lord 2018 is this one. I am very excited to share it with you. This year was very long, but this small child is a true bright spot. She’s going to kill it at karaoke when she’s older.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Sabres

Headline photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images North America