Caps at Isles pregame: Down, not out

August 16, 2020 10:59 am

The Capitals are facing off against the New York Islanders for Game Three. Currently the series sits at 0-2 with the New York Islanders on top. This is the biggest game of the year, so to balance out my huge ball of nerves, I’m going to keep positive. Nick Backstrom skated at the end of practice yesterday and Coach Reirden mentioned that they’ll see how everyone is doing this morning to decide lineups. Alex Ovechkin also wants to remind you that they know they’re not playing well and they know what they have to do. The Caps are down, but they are not out.

I might have a quick meditation before this one. Just going to simply manifest into the world that I want to watch a game where the Capitals do not lose a lead or collapse in the third period. I don’t know how meditation works.

The puck drops at 12 PM and you’ll get a glorious recap from Peter Hassett. Let’s go Caps.


Record	35-23-10	41-20-8
Shot Attempt %	46.4%	51.8%
PDO	100.1	100.5
Power Play	17.3% (24th)	19.4% (17th)
Penalty Kill	80.7% (15th)	82.6% (6th)

Projected Lines

As mentioned above, Coach Reirden will have a better picture about what the lines will look like a bit closer to game time. Assuming that Nick Backstrom will still be out, these are the lines:

Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Vrana – Eller – Oshie
Hagelin – Boyd – Kovalchuk
Panik – Dowd – Hathaway

Kempny – Carlson
Dillon – Orlov
Siegenthaler – Jensen

Holtby

On Ovi’s Mind

NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti had a great piece on who Alex Ovechkin has been thinking about during this first round. It’s been Alex Luey, the teenager that Ovi developed a special bond with after surprising him with tickets to a Capitals-Maple Leafs game back in 2017. Luey died in December 2019 after a 3-year battle with cancer.

“He was always positive, smiling even when he was sick. I think guys really liked him doing the lineups and cheering for us.” – @ovi8 is in Toronto without @Capitals fan Alex Luey, who died after a 3-year battle with cancer. @TomGulittiNHL has the story.https://t.co/m7O8YgDWuS

— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) August 16, 2020

Storylines

Effective communication is key, and Brenden Dillon makes that know in this mic’d up video. I want more mic’d up videos, I can’t get enough.
During the Carolina Hurricanes/Boston Bruins match-up, Andrei Svechnikov suffered a terrible leg injury. Before you click, I’m warning you that it ain’t pretty. Hoping for a quick recovery for Svech.
Here’s a little perspective about the current situation.
The Capitals as superheroes. I hope the superhero versions show up for this game today.
If you happened to miss Game Two, the morning after numbers can paint you a nice picture of what went down. Spoiler alert: The Caps were out-shot by the Isles 32 to 25 and out-attempted at five-on-five 45 to 43.
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has left the bubble and is heading home to be with his family. At the end of the day, hockey is just a game. If Rask wasn’t mentally doing well and wanted to go home, good for him.
FOCO is still having their End of Summer Flash Sale with some Washington Capitals and Washington Nationals items up to 70% Off! Start your search now. They have a bunch of bobbleheads remaining of Alex Ovechkin’s The Goal (most inventory gone), Tom Wilson with Halle, and Dr. Fauci’s First Pitch.

Alex Smith

Taking your mind to another sport for a quick second, some insane news happened overnight. Alex Smith, the Washington Football Team quarterback, has been officially cleared for football activity. For those of you that don’t know what happened, the basic story is that he injured his leg in November 2018 and then almost died from sepsis. He has 17 surgeries within 9 months. If your curious, there is an ESPN 60 documentary that takes you through the whole story. The fact that he is alive and off the “Physically unable to perform” list is wonderful and completely bonkers.

Here is him celebrating the good news with his family:

Alex Smith and his family had plenty to celebrate after he was officially cleared to resume football activities 🍾🙏

(via @lizbsmith11) pic.twitter.com/N1msn6HWbh

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 16, 2020