Good morning. Happy snow.
So I don’t watch football. I am probably gonna watch some British costume drama while you’re watching the super bowl. But before then, you and I and everyone else will watch the depleted Washington Capitals play the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time this season.
It’s a nooner at home. It’s going to be a mess. I’ve got your recap.
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Record | 7-3-2 | 6-2-3 |
| Shot Attempt % | 43.9% | 47.7% |
| PDO | 98.0 | 104.5 |
| Power Play | 23.7% | 34.6% |
| Penalty Kill | 72.1% | 79.5% |
Projected Lines
I always get pregame duty on early weekend games. I never know what the lines will be. You don’t either. Here’s what Samantha Pell reported from practice on Saturday:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson
Panik – Eller – Carr
Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
Maillet – Sgarbossa – Sprong
Chara – Carlson
Dillon – TvR
Orlov – Jensen
Vanecek
I have no idea what a maillet is.
The Season
| WSH | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | 🌮 | 🚽 | 3/3 | 3/5 | 4/8 | 4/10 | 4/18 | 4/20 |
| NJD | 2/27 | 3/1 | 3/7 | 3/9 | 3/25 | 3/26 | 4/2 | 4/4 |
| PHI | 2/7 | 2/9 | 3/11 | 3/13 | 4/17 | 4/27 | 5/7 | 5/8 |
| NYI | 🌮 | 🌮 | 3/15 | 3/16 | 4/1 | 4/6 | 4/22 | 4/24 |
| PIT | 🤷 | 🤷 | 2/14 | 2/16 | 2/23 | 2/25 | 4/29 | 5/1 |
| NYR | 🚽 | 2/20 | 2/21 | 3/19 | 3/28 | 3/30 | 5/3 | 5/5 |
| BUF | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🌮 | 🤷 | 2/11 | 2/13 | 4/13 | 4/15 |
Legend: 🌮 = win; 🚽 = loss; 🤷 = OTL
Just a Quick Rundown of Injuries
- Forward Jakub Vrana (COVID-19 unavailability)
- Forward Evgeny Kuznetsov (COVID-19 unavailability)
- Goalie Ilya Samsonov (COVID-19 unavailability)
- TJ Oshie (upper-body injury)
- Justin Schultz (upper-body injury)
- Conor Sheary (lower-body injury)
- Brian Pinho (I forget)
If someone plays under eight minutes today, I’m gonna flip out. Everyone pulls the rope.
Storylines
- Jakub Vrana has been added to the COVID-19 availability list. Ugh. TJ Oshie is also out with an upper-body injury.
- But Lars Eller might be back.
- A bunch of Caps games have been rescheduled due to COVID.
- Guess who was great number eight on the most powerful hockey people list?
- Michael Latta is still the best.
- No fines to the Bruins for breaking social distancing, eh?
- Please read Chris’s post mortem on the loss to NYR.
- Poor Braden Holtby.
Birthdays!
HBD Bonzai!
BONZAI
Happy Birthday to an #ALLCAPS legend! pic.twitter.com/UL4Re6VUon
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 7, 2021
(Can he still play? They could use him.)
HBD Panik!
Have a Super Birthday, Richie!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/f3QVqFlG1N
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 7, 2021
I looked it up and it’s also the birthdays of Steven Stamkos, Ashton Kutcher, Garth Brooks, Charles Dickens, Chris Rock, James Spader, and four billion social-media kids I’ve never heard of.
RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Flyers
Screenshot courtesy of MSG
