Let’s do it again. The NHL is back, albeit without fans and in a shortened season and Holtby is gone but Lundqvist is here no wait he isn’t Chara is here, yeah, Chara is a Capital. We’re just making it up as we go along.

The Washington Capitals’ season kicks off tonight at 7 PM as the team travels to Buffalo to beat the Sabres. Catch the NBC stream and hang out with us. Pete here reporting for duty, stealing valor, and doing good tweets.

Record	0 – 0 – 0	0 – 0 – 0
Shot Attempt %	DIV/0	DIV/0
PDO	NaNo	NaNo
Power Play	#ERROR	#ERROR
Penalty Kill	#ERROR	#ERROR

Schedule

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	1/30	2/1	3/3	3/5	4/8	4/11	4/18	4/20
	2/27	3/1	3/7	3/9	3/25	3/26	4/2	4/4
	2/7	2/9	3/11	3/13	4/17	4/27	5/7	5/8
	1/26	1/28	3/15	3/16	4/6	4/6	4/22	4/24
	1/17	1/19	2/14	2/16	2/23	2/25	4/29	5/1
	2/4	2/20	2/21	3/19	3/28	3/30	5/3	5/5
	1/14	1/15	1/22	1/24	2/11	2/13	4/13	4/15

Projected Lines

By way of WaPo’s Samantha J Pell:

Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Panik – Eller – Sheary
Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway

Orlov – Carlson
Dillon – Schultz
Chara – Jensen

Samsonov

Hoo-boy. New era begins right now.

Peter’s MeatSports Corner

Bold prediction time!

• Caps play all 56 games
• Caps get second in the division behind the Bruins
• Because Pittsburgh gets injured/hurt
• But Flyers are right behind
• Chicago and Ottawa will wish they opted out
• Dmitry Orlov hits career high in points (per game)
• Chara’s still got it
• Laviolette doesn’t have an instant cure for Kuznetsov’s play without the puck
• Ovi gets stuck at 29 goals
• Ian’s Fehervary Fehertheory gets scrutinized but is proved correct
• Avs win the Cup

Storylines

• Here is your opening-night roster and lines.
• And here is your Washington Capitals as cartoons.
• Craig Anderson has signed with the Caps. He’ll be on the taxi squad.
• We’re on day 2 of 116 consecutive days of hockey.
• It’s a different world for STHers
• Andre, the dream killer
• On Ilya and Vanacek’s friendship —  nice work, Eliza!
• The Dallas Stars are uh gonna miss some games.
• 🐼

Lets Be Careful Out There

This is not going to be a normal season. This isn’t going to be remotely like the bubble. It’s more likely than not that the Caps won’t play every scheduled game. The prevalence of the disease is four times more widespread than it was when the teams entered the bubbles in Canada last year.

So I leave you with this tune from the classic TV series, Cop Rock.

I’ll root for the Caps, and we’ll have as much fun as we can manage, but my overriding hope is for everyone’s safety and health.

RMNB Coverage of Caps at Sabres

Headline photo: Collage by Peter Hassett (age 30-something) (Photos: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB, YouTube)