Your savory breakfast links:
- Scheduling alert: Game 6 is officially set for 3:00 pm ET at Nassau Coliseum. [Caps, WaPo]
- Recaps and other assorted musings on last night’s victory from us, SB Nation, Vogs, Monumental video (Trotz, Kuznetsov, Backstrom, Beagle, Chimera, Capuano, Isles room, highlights), NHL.com, AP, WaPo (and best/worst), WashTimes, CSNW (gamer, blog), Frankovic, ESPN, PHT, CBS Sports, The Score, RMNB, StarsandSticks, and from the Island, the NY Post, Islanders Point Blank, Newsday, and Lighthouse Hockey.
- The Caps were looking for secondary scoring – they got it in the form of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who had a dominant evening (and a particularly beautiful second goal). [WaPo, ESPN, CSNW (video)]
- From Elias: Rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded the first three points of his NHL playoff career when he tallied two goals and one assist in the Capitals‘ 5-1 win in Game 5 of their series against the Islanders. Kuznetsov tied the Capitals record for most points by a rookie in a playoff game, a mark set by defenseman Sergei Gonchar in 1995 (two goals and one assist at Pittsburgh in his NHL postseason debut) and equaled by Richard Zednik in 1998 (two goals and one assist at Buffalo).
- Not surprisingly, Tom Wilson had an eventful evening, dropping the gloves with Anders Lee… and then getting some between-the-legs abuse courtesy of Casey Cizikas. [CSNW, LHH, Islanders Point Blank, CBC]
- It was a physical evening all around, with loads of hits in the first and a couple of misconducts by the end. [CSNW]
- Another night, another blueliner lost for the Islanders. [LHH]
- Welcome back to Verizon Center, Michal Neuvirth. [Caps Outsider]
- Fist bumps! [Caps OT]
- The Caps wanted the Verizon Center to be rocking with red, the fury to be unleashed, and the fans to be louder. Mission: accomplished. [CSNW]
- News and notes from yesterday’s pregame skate:
- Whether or not you think Wilson’s hit on Lubomir Visnovsky in Game 4 was clean, we can all agree that we hope Visnovsky makes a speedy recovery. [LHH]
- As for Wilson, if he’s getting under the collective skin of the Islanders, he’s doing his job. [WaPo, CSNW, Newsday]
- In which Brooks Laich gives a radio interview and gets reported to the Department of Player Safety. Because that’s totally normal. [WaPo]
- Prior to last night, Troy Brouwer just hadn’t been producing enough at five-on-five. [WaPo]
- After missing the last two months with a concussion, Mikhail Grabovski was cleared to return to action against his former team. [WaPo, AP, Toronto Sun]
- The Caps are still carrying three goaltenders, and it sounds like that will be the case for at least a little bit longer. [WaPo]
- Which means the Hershey Bears will have to open their first-round series tonight against the Worcester Sharks without the services of Philipp Grubauer. [Patriot-News (and again)]
- You aren’t a true Washingtonian until you’ve gotten stuck behind a presidential motorcade, so… hey, welcome to the family, Islanders. [CSNW]
- Nicklas Backstrom: Superman, golden god, whatever. [WaPo, WashTimes, ]
- A look back at the first four games of the series. [Peerless]
- Chicken and waffle (cones), now being served at the Verizon Center! If you’re into that type of thing. [WaPo]
- Hop in the wayback machine and remember a very long overtime game against the Penguins that forever made the name “Petr Nedved” synonymous with evil heartbreaker. Hooray… [WaPo]
- Finally, happy 44th birthday to Ken Klee, and happy 55th to Darren Veitch.