Your savory breakfast links:
- A quick rundown of which wingers are shooting from where… and one guy getting a lot of pucks on net from in tight may surprise you. [Rink]
- Check out the latest edition of our weekly look at who’s up and who’s down among the Caps. [Rink]
- Your Capitals Minute for today. [Capitals Voice]
- News and notes from yesterday’s practice:
- In general. [Monumental video (Oates, Laich, Alzner, Erskine, Rinkside Update/Ward)]
- After some early season dominance, the Caps’ penalty-killing has steadily declined… [NBC4]
- …but don’t expect there to be any changes made to how the team approaches the penalty-killing. [WaPo]
- Better to save the tinkering for what had been a pretty decent “top” line. Because the Brooks Laich–Troy Brouwer combo has been so effective in the past. [WaPo, CSNW]
- Now that Dmitry Orlov has established himself in the Caps’ lineup, he’s playing – and talking – like he wants to stay. Hey, look, now only two guys want out!! [WashTimes]
- One of those two is Michal Neuvirth, who is stuck in goalie purgatory as the Caps continue to carry three netminders. Adam Oates: “Hopefully it gets rectified.” Must…not…punch things… [CSNW]
- Speaking of Neuvirth, he and Martin Erat were both left off of the Czech Olympic team when the roster was announced yesterday. Poor guys. [CSNW]
- So if Neuvirth and Erat won’t be going to Sochi with John Carlson, which other Caps will be? (Hint: that guy in the #8 jersey has a pretty good shot. The #19 one, too.) [CSNW]
- The Caps have had abysmal possession numbers this season… with the exception of the last four games, all losses. And that’s actually a good thing. Sorta. [Dump ‘n Chase]
- More good things the numbers tell us at the halfway mark? The Caps may not be (ha, “may not be”) a Cup contender now… but they could be, and soon. [RMNB]
- And hey, they do lead the NHL in one category: quick response goals-against. We’re number 1! We’re number 1! [WaPo]
- With the NHL season halfway over, one of the League’s top storylines of the year is also one of the best stories coming out of DC, and that’s Alex Ovechkin‘s awesomeness. [NHL.com]
- Of course, because that awesomeness is one-dimensional, he is only projected to be a Hart Trophy Finalist at the halfway mark. [Yahoo!]
- And people still like dropping cash on his jersey, so there’s that. [Puck Daddy]
- The World Juniors wrapped up on Sunday, and while none of the Caps’ prospects brought home the gold, they did have some pretty good performances. [Talk the Red]
- Fantasy hockey New Year’s resolution: dump Braden Holtby! Harsh. [NHL.com]
- Looking into why the Caps failed to honor former coach Bruce Boudreau on the big screen when the Ducks visited DC a few weeks ago. [WaPo]
- Finally, happy 48th birthday to Yves Beaudoin, happy 41st to Donald Brashear, happy 47th to Randy Burridge, happy 57th to Mike Liut and happy 45th to Mike Rosati. Whew.
