Your savory breakfast links:
- Previews of tonight’s duel with the Oilers from Vogs, NHL.com, AP and Peerless, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partners over at The Copper & Blue for more from the other side of tonight’s match-up.
- Three straight Western Conference games? Start resetting that internal clock now, kids! [Rink]
- A number of Caps will be making a return home on this road trip, starting with Edmonton’s native son Jason Chimera. [Capitals Voice, Edmonton Sun]
- With a long road trip ahead of them, the Caps are eager for a little extra team-bonding away from the DC area. [WashTimes, CSNW]
- Things look pretty bleak for the Oilers right now… but just how historically bleak are they? Well, let’s just say long-time Caps fans laugh at their “misery”. [Grantland (DGB)]
- News and notes from the Caps’ practice in Edmonton:
- In general. [Monumental video (Trotz, Ovechkin, Chimera, Rinkside Update/Green), WaPo]
- The boys took the ice at Leduc Recreation Centre, where a number of fans gathered for a rare glimpse of Alex Ovechkin and friends. [Capitals OT (video, pic)]
- Tom Wilson will kick off his 2014-15 season with the Hershey Bears, as he’s scheduled to play two games this weekend before returning to DC. [Patriot-News]
- Hitting the road without a regulation loss is a good feeling; doing so by clamping down defensively is even better. [WaPo, NBC4, CSNW]
- Brooks Laich is injured and pissed off about it. [106.7, WaPo]
- Improved penalty-killing, better goaltending and an all-around gameplan that seems to be working (so far) has the Caps off to a red-hot start. [Along the Boards, Fourth Period]
- It certainly also helps that Barry Trotz and Ovechkin are on the same page. [Edmonton Sun, Edmonton Journal]
- Evgeny Kuznetsov has had to adjust to a reduction in ice time and a fourth-line role, but is doing so in stride as he gets more familiar with the center position… [WaPo]
- …even if not everyone agrees with his usage. [RMNB]
- Get to know new defensemen Brooks Orpik a bit better, including where his name came from, his first NHL viewing experience and his *sigh* baseball preferences. [CSNW]
- Former Caps’ goaltender Clint Malarchuk opens up about his battle with mental illness in a new book. [National Post, Brandon Sun]
- The upcoming Winter Classic is just one of many reasons why Washington, DC is the top travel city for 2015. Woo! [Yahoo! Travel]
- Finally, happy 46th birthday to Terry Yake, and happy 34th to Matt Pettinger.