The Capitals are hosting a New Years Eve matinee at Capital One Arena against the Nashville Predators. The Predators are coming to DC with a five-game losing streak but remain second in the Central Division.
It’s an early afternoon puck drop for us all! Tune your telly to NBCWA at 12:30 PM. you can still catch exclusive Caps coverage of both pre and post game live on NBCSWA+ or on your mobile devices with their streaming service. I will have a recap for you after the game. You will never be able to get rid of me.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 22-15-2 | 24-10-3 |
| Shot Attempt % | 53.6% | 49.3% |
| PDO | 100.4 | 103.5 |
| Power Play | 14.9% | 23.5% |
| Penalty Kill | 80.6% | 77.3% |
Projected Lines
Some good news, Matt Niskanen was on the ice warming up during yesterday’s practice and the RETURN OF BROOKS ORPIK. Tom Guitti from NHL.com kept us updated on the lines:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Burakovsky – Eller – Connolly
Stephenson/Jaskin – Dowd – DSP/Boyd (rotating)
Kempny – Carlson
Orlov – Bowey
Siegenthaler – Lewington
Orpik – Niskanen
Holtby
Mothers Trip
Some good news to keep an eye out for on the Nashville side of things? We’ll be getting Moms trip content. I love the parents and mentors trips so much. This will be the team’s first-ever Mothers Trip.
Moms & monuments. #PredsMoms pic.twitter.com/XUJmRtsadb
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 30, 2018
Storylines
- The Evgeny Kuznetsov birdwalk celly has made it to the World Junior Championships. The recognization is deserves.
- Speaking of birds, Ian had some good luck ducklings in his flower bed before the Capitals won the Stanley Cup. I’d like to go ahead and propose they are all named a bird pun of each player. Nick Quack-strom and so on.
- Capitals first-round pick Alex Alexeyev scored his first goal in the 2019 World Junior Championships. I’m going to continue calling him “Alex Alex” no matter how many goals he scores.
- “Well I’m not Michael Jordan”- Alex Ovechkin‘s new hoodie. Very glad he wore this because I was definitely getting the two athletes confused.
- Have you tried the new PopSugar twinning algorithm? Don’t worry, we put the Capitals players through it so you didn’t have to keep wondering things like “Who is Lars Eller’s twin???”
- Matt Niskanen continues to be a great guy. He mentioned, “I don’t think anyone did anything wrong” about the play that injured him.
Resolutions
Personally, I cannot stand New Years Eve. I always think there is too much pressure to have the best night ever, I get really emotional when I think about memories, and Auld Lang Syne ain’t a great song! But what I do like is the idea of a fresh start and some resolutions. What are you top goals for the new year? Here are some of mine:
- Eat my vegetables. I don’t like eating my greens and I am an adult. It’s time. I should also mention this is my resolution ever year.
- Read more books. I already read a bunch, but I’d like to get into the habit of not only reading more, but putting my phone away at night and reading before sleeps.
- Travel more. 2018 was a really good year for me travel-wise and I’d like to do more in 2019. It makes me happy, so I should probably do what makes me happy.
- Get more into analytics. I’d like to be a numbers weirdo.
I hope you all have a super fun and safe new years eve! Don’t drive drunk or I’ll hunt you down and put my dog’s poop on your pillow.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Predators
Headline photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America
