Your savory breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings on last night’s victory from us (plus the night in quotes), Vogs, Monumental video (Oates, Alzner, Laich, Brouwer, Halak), NHL.com, WaPo (and again), CSNW, CBSSports, PHT, Frankovic, Peerless, RMNB.
- Okay, call it a comeback. [CSNW]
- There were plenty of familiar faces on the visitors’ bench as Mike Ribeiro, Jeff Halpern, and Martin Erat made their return to the Verizon Center. [Caps Outsider, CSNW]
- Ribeiro reflects on his time in DC (he enjoyed it), and his new role in Glendale (still getting used to it). [Yotes TV (video), WashTimes]
- Oh hey, Halpy. [Yotes TV (video)]
- In which the Captain provides his own special welcome wagon for Marty Erat. [CSNW (video)]
- Goal or no-goal? No-goal. Good. [TheScore, NHL.com]
- Even better? This goal. And this goal. And especially this goal.
- Fom Elias: The Capitals trailed, 2-0, nearing the midpoint of the third period in their game against the Coyotes, but Washington’s Karl Alzner, Brooks Laich and Troy Brouwer each scored once in a span of 5:02 and that three-goal outburst was enough for the Caps to record a 3-2 win over Phoenix. This was only the second time in the last four seasons that the Capitals won a game in regulation time in which they trailed by two goals in the third period. Washington’s only other such win since the beginning of the 2010-11 season was a 4-2 victory at Columbus on Dec. 31, 2011.
- Break out the weagle-shaped confetti!!! Nearly four long years after the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Evgeny Kuznetsov is a Washington Capital. [Rink]
- As elusive as the Loch Ness Monster, Zhenya arrived at Kettler, signed his entry-level contract, and will rock the red for the rest of this season and all of next. [Capitals, NHL.com, WaPo, CSNW (and again), Puck Daddy, PHT, Monumental video (McPhee)]
- Kuzya’s coming to America began with the Caps’ director of player development taking a trip to Chelyabinsk. [Dump ‘n’ Chase (with interview video at the link, and Kuznetsov’s English is surprisingly quite good)]
- You may recall that a CBC documentary chronicled a 12-year old Kuznetsov. All these years later, writer/producer/hockey nomad Robert Bidini recounts some of his memories of making that film. [Puck Buddys, Part 1 of 2]
- Evgeny’s fans in Chelyabinsk prepared this very nice thank you gift, and it was even better looking when they awarded it to him at his last game. Spasibo, Kuzya!
- And here he is on and off the ice at Kettler this morning. [RMNB, @SkyKerstein, @SkyKerstein]
- “We know that you must take [GM George] McPhee’s public statements with a grain of salt. In the case of these statements, that salt should probably be accompanied by a tequila chaser.” Oof. [Rink]
- Jaroslav Halak took the bumpy road to come to DC. [WashTimes, PHT]
- New-to-Arlington Dustin Penner found himself in need of a helping hand – and found it through teh Twitterz. [FTW]
- The Hershey Bears took a game from the Norfolk Admirals on Friday but gave it back on Saturday, and remain a point or three out of the AHL playoff picture. [Patriot-News, SHoE]
- Finally, happy 50th birthday to a great American (and former Cap), Phil Housley.