Not too long ago I was asking people, “Does this NHL season feel super long?” But now, I can’t believe we’re down to the final ten games of the regular season.
The Capitals are in New York to kick off a three-game extravaganza against the New York Islanders. Both teams are 29-13-4, so expect this series to be pretty intense. The Caps have a bit more of an edge in other areas like power play and shot-attempt percentage, but who the heck knows what kind of Caps team will show up tonight. I won’t “jinx” anything; I did that last time.
Puck drop is at 7 PM and Peter will have your recap.
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Record | 29-13-4 | 29-13-4 |
| Shot Attempt % | 49.4% | 50.2% |
| PDO | 101.7 | 102.1 |
| Power Play | 17.5% | 27.6% |
| Penalty Kill | 82.5% | 83.5% |
Projected Lines
As always, thanks to Samantha Pell at the Washington Post for morning skate lines. Michael Raffl is making his Caps debut, Justin Schultz has a lower body injury and is listed as “day-to-day”, and Ilya Samsonov will be in net:
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Mantha – Backstrom – Oshie
Sheary – Eller – Raffl
Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
Orlov – Carlson
Dillon – TvR
Chara – Jensen
Samsonov
The Season
| WSH | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 5/11 |
| NJD | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 |
| PHI | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 5/7 | 5/8 |
| NYI | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🚽 | 4/22 | 4/24 | 4/27 |
| PIT | 🤷 | 🤷 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🤷 | 🌮 | 4/29 | 5/1 |
| NYR | 🚽 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 🌮 | 🚽 | 5/3 | 5/5 |
| BUF | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🤷 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🚽 |
Legend: 🌮 = win; 🚽 = loss; 🤷 = OTL
Whoops
Ah, hockey. The most majestic and graceful of all the sports.
Bruh. 🤣 #Preds
🎥 @NHLonNBCSports pic.twitter.com/RiJptfenAB— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) April 21, 2021
Storylines
- Want to know the scoop behind that infamous David Pastrnak tweet about Tom Wilson? You’re in luck, Pasta gave the dirty details.
- THESE LAST GAMES ARE LIKE…..REALLY IMPORTANT.
- Spencer Carbery signed a multi-year extension with the Bears!
- The NHL’s 2021-22 season has a target start date.
- Connor McMichael is stickin’ with the Hershey Bears for the rest of the season.
- I skate the exact same way that Campbell Oshie does.
- Michael Raffl to the rescue? I guess we’ll find out!
- If you wanted an update on Alex Ovechkin‘s contract, or if he’s planning on retiring with the Capitals, I have bad news for you. Ovi said, “We’ll see”. Is he playing with us? Is he serious? Why am I nervous sweating?
- Braden Holtby continues to remind us why he is one of the best.
- It’s been a while, take a look at the morning after numbers from the previous game.
- Speaking of the previous game, it got pretty messy. There was no supplemental discipline for Garnet Hathaway or Tom Wilson.
Super League
I can’t stop reading about the Super League. First, love that it was named SUPER League. Second, love how fast it was taken down and it was a real pleasure to watch it all happen in real time. The New York Times has a great breakdown of the situation, if you’ve been looking for one.
“As an unlikely alliance of American hedge funds, Russian oligarchs, European industrial tycoons and Gulf royals sought to seize control of the revenues of the world’s most popular sport.” @nytimes with the Super League tick-tock you’ve been waiting for. https://t.co/rfVtwmFEDa
— Jim Maiella (@jimmaiella) April 22, 2021
