Nobody needs the reminder that the race in the Metropolitan division is very close. In fact, five points separate the division’s top five teams. The Rangers are hosting the Capitals tonight and both teams are coming off, not just the holiday break, but some pretty stinging losses.
The Rangers will want to win tonight to get ahead in the standings, but also to give them a win before they hit the road for their next five games. Might be a little hard since they’ve decided to keep Henrik Lundqvist out of the lineup. The Capitals? They will want to win because they are the best team of all time and I do not like when they lose. But, no bias here.
The game is at 8PM and NBCSN will have your TV coverage. Very important human, Chris from the comments, will have your recap. Wednesday Night Rivalry. Again.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 19-13-4 | 22-13-2 |
| Shot Attempt % | 45.7% | 48.3% |
| PDO | 101.8 | 101.4 |
| Power Play | 19.8% | 19.1% |
| Penalty Kill | 83.2% | 78.9% |
Projected Lines
It’s lookin’ like Alex Chiasson will be on the fourth line for Chandler Stephenson. Thanks to Callie Caplan with the Washington Post who is tweetin’ for Isabelle today!
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Vrana – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Burakovsky – Eller – Connolly
DSP – Beagle – Chiasson
Orlov – Niskanen
Djoos – Carlson
Orpik – Bowey
Grubauer
Strange Stats
Bit of a crazy stat.. #Caps are 10th in the league in scoring (3.03 goals/game) but last in shots per game (28.5).. #ALLCAPS
— Rob Carlin (@RobCarlinNBCS) December 27, 2017
Our boy Pete broke it down a bit more…
Yeah, this is wild.
21st in 5v5 shot attempts
28th in 5v5 unblocked
31st in 5v5 on-goal
19th in 5v5 high danger
16th in 5v5 scoring chances
24th in 5v5 expected goals
10th in 5v5 goals
3rd in 5v5 shooting % https://t.co/4445nCJlY0— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) December 27, 2017
Storylines
- How did YOUR holiday break kickoff? Hopefully with cute Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana funny faces like the rest of ours did.
- Nate Schmidt is a big time Hollywood boy. Just kidding, he hopped on Sportscenter to talk about his brand new, shiny team. *gagging noise*
- While we are on the topic of Nate Schmidt, here he is dressing as Santa Claus and an Elf. He is a true Christmas miracle.
- Wanna know how all your faves spent their holiday? Now you can, with this master post! Spoiler alert, everyone looks amazing.
- Sweden beat Belarus in the WJCs 6-1 and there was a BIG hit by Axel Jonsson-Fjällby. Sound familiar? It’s because he’s all ours (muwahahaha)…or he’s just a top Caps prospect.
- Subban is still a really wonderful guy. Also, water is wet.
- Connor “Hardcore” Hobbs got into his first fight since he fractured his wrist. Gave the other team a lil’ disrespectful wink too.
- Dmitry Orlov and his wife, Varvara, got to go see the Grand Canyon on Christmas Day and the pictures? They are waaaay too cute.
- Everyone loves a good revamped logo. Check out the Capitals’ for the Stadium Series merchandise.
- Merry Christmas to all of us with this picture of Jakub Vrana, Madison Bowey, and Christian Djoos as elves with a bunch of leg. I love these idiots.
- I embrace the fact that I don’t share similar opinions with John Tortorella, but this opinion he has on the Penguins? I’ll agree.
- Lars Eller’s papa is coaching Team Denmark for the World Junior Championships this year. He had a rough day yesterday.
- You folks got spoiled. Here are the best Caps related gifts this year.
World Junior Championships 2018
Here are a couple GIFs from Pete Blackburn reminding you how great this tournament is, so make sure you tune in.
HERE TO PARTY pic.twitter.com/wPgo0ZtAYE
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 26, 2017
Nobody’s having a better time than this guy pic.twitter.com/xYf46yvon0
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 26, 2017
