Your savory breakfast links:
- The home-ice question was settled with the final shot of the final game of the regular season, and the Isles will be facing off against the Caps at Verizon Center on Wednesday at 7:00pm. [Rink]
- First looks at the matchup. [NHL.com, Newsday, Sportsnet, CSNW (video)]
- Recapping the Caps/Isles season series… [WaPo, Rink (one, two, three, four)]
- … and remembering Caps/Isles playoffs in years gone by. Including that one time the Caps team bus was pelted with rocks. [Frankovic]
- Why the Isle will win Lord Stanley’s Cup: “…the Islanders will win the Stanley Cup because of how well they have played at home this season, their final one at Nassau Coliseum, where they won the Stanley Cup twice during their four-Cup dynasty in the early 1980s. New York finished with 25 wins at home for the first time since 2003-04. “The way [the fans have] supported us this year, the way they’ve filled up the Coliseum all year and all season, it’s been really special for them and us,” Lee said prior to a game earlier in the season. It could end up being a memorable ending to the Islanders season on Long Island.” [NHL.com]
- Why the Caps will win Lord Stanley’s Cup: “If everyone else has a potential fatal flaw, the lack of one is what makes Washington the most likely team to emerge from an unpredictable lot in the East. It will also make them champions.” [NHL.com]
- One burning question for each playoff team. [NHL.com]
- Watchability factor: High. [USA Today]
- Scouting reports:
- Washington. [Sporting News, Too Many Men on the Site, B/R]
- New York. [Sporting News, B/R]
- Banged-up Isle. [Lighthouse Hockey, NYPost, Islanders Point Blank]
- Oh hai there, NYI defenseman Griffin Reinhart , newly called up from Bridgeport. [IPB]
- Get to know… Brock Nelson . [Rink]
- Braden Holtby doesn’t appear on this list of “goalies to avoid in the playoffs,” but neither does Jaroslav Halak, so we’ll check back later. [WaPo]
- Two rookie forwards are the X Factors for this series. [NHL.com (Kuznetsov, Lee)
- Oh, and then there’s always Alex Ovechkin . [NHL.com, Sportsnet, B/R]
- Tim Gleason and Curtis Glencross are happy to be here. Here, of course, being the postseason. [CSNW]
- How much does playoff experience count? The Caps are about to find out. [CSNW]
- Predictions:
- Caps in Five: [Bleacher Report]
- Caps in Six: [ESPN, SI, THN]
- Isles in Seven (and in overtime, to boot): [USA Today]
- Point: Milestones are nice and all, but where are the Cups? [WashTimes]
- Counterpoint: Whatever. We’re in the playoffs! Cup here we come! [Caps Outsider]
The Week (and the Season) That Was, Volume 27. [Peerless, RMNB]
Pictures from an Exhibition. [Rink, RMNB]
… and hey, developing a kid in the ECHL can work. It worked for Gally! [Reading Eagle]
Don’t forget: Check back frequently today as we’ll have plenty of previews, profiles and more coming your way.