Tonight is the night. Yes, Nicklas Backstrom will be playing in his 1000th game, so he is the proverbial “belle of the ball” but something else is also occurring. We are done with the Sabres. This is the final one and it would’ve been cool if the Caps were going for the series sweep, but due to the pesky shootout loss in February…we will have to settle for a potential seven wins out of eight. Hard life.
Puck will be dropping at 7 PM and Christopher will have your recap, supplemented by some witty tweets.
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Record | 10-25-7 | 28-11-4 |
| Shot Attempt % | 46.0% | 49.6% |
| PDO | 98.3 | 102.8 |
| Power Play | 21.0% | 27.4% |
| Penalty Kill | 77.8% | 83.1% |
Projected Lines
We have Vitek Vanecek in goal tonight, with Craig Anderson backing him up. Ilya Samsonov is day-to-day with an upper body injury:
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Mantha – Backstrom – Oshie
Sheary – Eller – Sprong
Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
Orlov – Carlson
Dillon – Schultz
Chara – Jensen
Vanecek
The Season
| WSH | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 4/18 | 5/11 |
| NJD | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 |
| PHI | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 4/17 | 5/7 | 5/8 |
| NYI | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🚽 | 4/22 | 4/24 | 4/27 |
| PIT | 🤷 | 🤷 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🤷 | 🌮 | 4/29 | 5/1 |
| NYR | 🚽 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 5/3 | 5/5 |
| BUF | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🤷 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 4/15 |
Legend: 🌮 = win; 🚽 = loss; 🤷 = OTL
Canucks Update
Anyone following the situation with the Canucks, here’s a quick update:
After a Zoom meeting w/ NHLPA last night, some Canucks players are getting medical evaluations + cardiology screenings today.
Then, decision will be made by NHL, NHLPA & Canucks on how to move forward with the schedule. As of now, Van is playing back to back Friday/Saturday.
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) April 15, 2021
If you are not familiar with what’s happening, I recommend you take a look at the interview that JT Miller gave last night.
Storylines
- Jakub Vrana took some time to thank the fans for their support! We love you, Jakbub!
- The Caps re-signed Conor Sheary to a fabulous deal. Which is great because I was gettin’ kinda weary about what the future was going to look like for Conor Sheary. Please laugh.
- Speaking of the Conor Sheary money, happy to see Alex Ovechkin is also in support of his new WEALTH.
- One of the many keys to life is “be able to laugh at yourself”. Safe to say, TJ Oshie has no problem doing this.
- Guess Anthony Mantha was a pretty great pickup, he scored a monster goal in his debut with the Caps.
- Speaking of Mantha’s first goal as a Capital, Alex Ovechkin made sure to grab the puck after his goal. Just the Captain doing Captain things.
- Baby Ovi Jr. in the houuuuuuse!
- Looks likes there was some stuff happening behind the scenes with Jakub Vrana, but wishing him all the best. Can’t help but root for him and his future.
- Check out the morning after numbers from the last game. Chris has been nailing these posts this season, strongly recommend you take a look.
- The tributes to Nick Backstrom are startin’ to pour in. I’m emotional.
- Special speeches from Coach, special speeches from Coach, special speeches from Coach!
Moke Birthday
Happy 3rd Birthday to the boisterous and intelligent gorilla at the Zoo…Moke!
🥳 Happy birthday, Moke! Today, our boisterous, intelligent and loving western lowland gorilla turns 3 years old. In her latest #GorillaStory update, primate keeper Emily Bricker shares her favorite memories in celebration of Moke’s big day. ✏️ STORY: https://t.co/kqDopoKUWU. pic.twitter.com/nQLl41MInt
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) April 15, 2021
RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Sabres
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
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