Happy Friday. Yes, we literally just did this last night. The Capitals are still in Buffalo and will play the Sabres, once more this evening, before heading to Pittsburgh for Sunday’s showdown. Would love to see another win in the books, but maybe this time it could be a bit cleaner? Is it a little early for me to start being a bit picky? Probably, but I can’t be stopped. I’ll tell you what I won’t complain about, if we start the game off with another Nick Backstrom goal.
The puck will be dropping tonight at 7 PM EST and you can catch the NBC stream and hang out with us. At the end of the evening, save some time to read Pete’s recap.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 0 – 1 – 0 | 1 – 0 – 0 |
| Shot Attempt % | 45.1% | 54.9% |
| PDO | 92.5 | 107.5 |
| Power Play | 33.3% | 50.0% |
| Penalty Kill | 50.0% | 66.7% |
Projected Lines
No practice today, so let’s stick with what we had from yesterday. Any line changes will be announced closer to puck drop:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Panik – Eller – Sheary
Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
Orlov – Carlson
Dillon – Schultz
Chara – Jensen
Samsonov
Return of the King
I am constantly looking for brighter news these days and today…there was some pretty fantastic news. Henrik Lundqvist is out of the hospital! For anyone that doesn’t know, he had open heart surgery about a week ago. Next steps for the King? Looks like he’ll still be taking it easy in Cleveland and then heading back to the Big Apple.
Will stick around in Cleveland for a little bit for more tests before heading back to NYC and continue my recovery/rehab there.
— Henrik Lundqvist (@hlundqvist35) January 15, 2021
Just such great news to kick off the long weekend. Wishing him a quick and easy recovery.
Storylines
- Dang, we all really missed Caps hockey.
- If you missed the game last night, it’s all good! The Caps won and you can check out the morning after numbers to get caught up.
- Curious about what the Caps are giving out for the best players of the game? Here’s a hint: they’re headbands.
- Personally, I would recommend that Nic Dowd uh doesn’t do hits like this?
- Brenden Dillon scored his first goal since 2019. The year “2019” feels like it was decades ago tbh.
- There was a John Carlson breakaway goal. No, seriously. There was.
- Don’t mind me, I’m just going to keep reading into this interview with Alex Ovechkin about his contract negotiations.
- The faith that Evgeny Kuznetsov has in Ovi? Inspiring.
Kings Sponsor
I can’t say that I will be watching much of the Los Angeles Kings this season, but thought I’d share with you guys something I learned about them earlier today. They have a helmet sponsorship with California HOPE Crisis Counseling Program, which is a mental health and wellness initiative funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and run by the California Department of Health Care Services. You can read all about the sponsorship details in the LA Times.
NEWS: The #LAKings have a helmet sponsor, and it’s a cool one
California HOPE (a state-run, FEMA-funded mental health/wellness initiative) has partnered w/ the team to raise awareness for its services amid the COVID-19 crisis
All the details on @latimes:https://t.co/n3MCmxNB1G
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) January 14, 2021
The Kings are hoping to not just generate revenue, but also to spread the word and hopefully save lives. I’m so stoked to see the Kings partnering with an organization that focuses on mental health, especially in times like this.
Divisional Record (so far)
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1/30 | 2/1 | 3/3 | 3/5 | 4/8 | 4/11 | 4/18 | 4/20 |
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2/27 | 3/1 | 3/7 | 3/9 | 3/25 | 3/26 | 4/2 | 4/4 |
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2/7 | 2/9 | 3/11 | 3/13 | 4/17 | 4/27 | 5/7 | 5/8 |
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1/26 | 1/28 | 3/15 | 3/16 | 4/6 | 4/6 | 4/22 | 4/24 |
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1/17 | 1/19 | 2/14 | 2/16 | 2/23 | 2/25 | 4/29 | 5/1 |
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2/4 | 2/20 | 2/21 | 3/19 | 3/28 | 3/30 | 5/3 | 5/5 |
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🌮 | 1/15 | 1/22 | 1/24 | 2/11 | 2/13 | 4/13 | 4/15 |
RMNB Coverage of Caps at Sabres
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong
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