Good morning, pals. The season’s winding down to a close, but we’re not quite there yet. Game 76 on the calendar brings the Philadelphia Flyers to town one last time. It’s a Sunday matinee game and the Flyers played yesterday, so who knows what will happen.
Puck drops at 12:30 PM. Put the My Teams app on your phone or whatever to stream it. Good boy Chris has recap duty and promises not to discuss college basketball.
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Record | 36-31-8 | 43-24-8 |
| Shot Attempt % | 48.4% | 49.3% |
| PDO | 99.9 | 101.9 |
| Power Play | 17.0% (21st) | 21.3% (9th) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.3% (22nd) | 79.1% (23rd) |
Projected Lines
Kuznetsov missed practice yesterday, but Hagelin returned from illness. If that holds up, here’s how they’ll look today, according to Isabelle:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Hagelin – Eller – Oshie
Vrana – Boyd – Connolly
Burakovsky – Dowd – Stephenson
Djoos – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Jensen
Holtby
Standings As Of Now
The Islanders beat the Flyers yesterday, and the Canadiens beat the Sabres, so everything got tighter. Columbus is currently sitting outside the bubble, but they’ve got more games left to play. Similarly, the Hurricanes may yet challenge for top three in the Metro. As of right now, it’s a tossup if the Caps can win the division and basically a three-way tie as to whom they’d play in the first round. I’m rooting for the Pens, but I’m a famous masochist.
Storylines
- Evgeny Kuznetsov is sick and may not play today. Hagelin is fine though.
- Don Cherry unloaded on Kuznetsov again on Saturday night. How many fans has Cherry introduced to the game in the last half decade and how many has Kuznetsov done the same for? Anyway, we’ve got a shirt now.
- Things don’t look good for Michal Kempny. The Caps have recalled Tyler Lewington.
- Boston locked in their playoff spot on Saturday. Also they signed Chara to a one-year deal.
- Caps vs Wild was boring.
Peter’s Esports Corner
That’s right. It’s back again.
The first stage playoffs of Overwatch League have been the organization’s biggest media exposure to date, with Saturday’s games airing on ABC. Unfortunately, both games were utter blowouts, with the Titans and Shock shutting out the Dynasty and Fusion respectively.
I suspect Sunday’s finals will be similar: Vancouver should rout San Francisco.
After that, everything will change. Rumor has it that (my preferred team) the Los Angeles Valiant are working on a big trade with Boston Uprising. Washington Justice have already picked up a ringer of a healer, Ark from the New York Excelsior. Add to that a big update to the game that may spell the end of the brawl-heavy “goats” meta-game that has been dominating the sport since summertime. I’m excited for it …as long as double sniper doesn’t return in its place.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Flyers
Headline image: Len Redkoles
