The Washington Capitals will take a break from all the Eastern Conference action of late for their final game of the season against the Western Conference until a potential Stanley Cup Final. That western team is the Minnesota Wild who the Caps last saw and beat 5-2 on the road in mid November.
Puck drop for this one is at your regular 7 PM eastern. As always, you can catch all coverage of this game on NBC Sports Washington via the My Teams app on your choice streaming device. I have your recap to distract me from my March Madness bracket obsession.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 34-31-9 | 43-23-8 |
| Shot Attempt % | 53.2% | 49.9% |
| PDO | 98.6 | 101.9 |
| Power Play | 20.8% (12th) | 21.6% (9th) |
| Penalty Kill | 80.5% (17th) | 79.0% (22nd) |
Projected Lines
According to Isabelle, the Caps are sticking with flip flopping top six centers, but the biggest news is that Christian Djoos will come in to replace Michal Kempny on the Caps “top” pairing.
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Hagelin – Eller – Connolly
Burakovsky – Dowd – Boyd
Djoos – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Jensen
Holtby
Grandma Locker
We’d like to express our heartfelt condolences to Craig Laughlin and his family as Locker lost his mother today at the age of 97. You and your entire family are in our thoughts, Locker.
Eugene Melnyk’s day
Here are a couple things that the Ottawa Senators owner has said today:
Eugene Melnyk: “The next six months are going to be critical for Pierre and the hockey operations team to get their act together."
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) March 22, 2019
"Mistakes were made, and somebody forgot about defence." @Senators owner Eugene Melnyk to @billcarrolltalk taking a shot at #MapleLeafs re-build
— Matt Harris (@mattfharris) March 22, 2019
Melnyk tells @billcarrolltalk that players like @MStoner61 would be too old if they signed him to a big long term contract now. Seems to be fine for @GoldenKnights
— Graham Richardson (@grahamctv) March 22, 2019
"He is so lucky I keep my mouth shut, he should keep his… I would be careful if I was him…" @Eugene Melnyk on @JimWatsonOttawa saying he was frustrated dealing with the Senators owner on Lebreton Flats file @billcarrolltalk @CFRAOttawa
— Matt Harris (@mattfharris) March 22, 2019
So Eugene Melnyk just called me “bush league” on the air. So there’s that….
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) March 22, 2019
Storylines
- Here is Ted Leonsis driving a zamboni.
- Brady Tkachuk flossed during warmups after being challenged to by a tiny Senators fan’s sign.
- Not good news on the injury front. Michal Kempny is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury and there is no timeline for his return.
- Braden Holtby has joined Brett Connolly in respectfully declining to visit the White House next week.
- Alex Ovechkin went grocery shopping for ice cream in a full, matching sweatsuit because he’s Alex Ovechkin.
- Ilya Samsonov crashed fellow Capitals goaltending prospect, Vitek Vancek’s postgame press conference to ask him a question about whether or not the Hershey Bears had a day off the next day or not.
- There will be no official ceremony or media availability during the Capitals’ White House visit next week.
- The Caps home turf, Capital One Arena is a playable location in the video-game ‘The Division 2’ by Ubisoft.
- Capitals NCAA propesct, Chase Priskie named Hobey Baker Award finalist amid speculation on his future with Capitals after his college career.
- The Capitals are participating in Opioid Awareness Night during tonight’s game. The night is being used to bring awareness to the ongoing, actual national emergency that is the opioid crisis in the US, as well as to help promote the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27.
Game of Thrones
I’m in a very Game of Thrones type mood lately, especially with the final season premiering in a little over three weeks. The following media is very spoiler laden (for seasons 1-7), but will get the veteran watcher hyped.
I would be remiss to also not acknowledge this incredibly story that dropped on Emilia Clarke, the actress that plays Daenerys Targaryen on the show. What an insanely strong human being. Khaleesi on TV and in real life. Must read.
In 2011, just as "Game of Thrones" was about to become a worldwide phenomenon, Emilia Clarke faced the first of two life-threatening brain aneurysms. Clarke tells her story for the first time: https://t.co/WeyFgn9CuL pic.twitter.com/C8eoFtfIx6
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) March 21, 2019
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Wild
Headline image: Patrick McDermott
