Your savory breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings on last night’s win from us (with the afternoon in GIFs and quotes), Vogs, NHL.com, WaPo, CSNW (gamer, video), Peerless, RMNB, DSP, and from the GTA, Pension Plan Puppets, Toronto Sun.
- The Caps now have fourteen games left in which to stake a claim to the playoffs, and though it might still prove to be too little too late, the win last night was a good start. [WashTimes, CSNW, USA Today]
- Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Joel Ward, 20-goal scoring machine. [RMNB]
- Related: No, LeafsNation, Wardo is ours. Keep yer maple-sticky paws to yourselves. [Editor In Leaf]
- Wardo’s was only the first 20th goal to be scored this night. Troy Brouwer also notched his 20th goal (and 100th point as a Cap) on an empty net with an incredible assist from Unselfishstrom. [@KarlAlzner, WaPo, CSNW, RMNB]
- The team announced that Brooks Laich would not be making the trip to California with the team as he heads to St. Louis instead for evaluation and possible surgical treatment of his injury. [WaPo, CSNW]
- The Week That Was, Volume 22. [Peerless, RMNB, In Lou We Trust]
- Hey Caps, whatever it was that you were doing here, keep doing it. [Rink]
- Dustin Penner is still adjusting to his new team. [NBC4]
- In which Alex Ovechkin enters elite company. [Greatest Hockey Legends]
- Hard times in Hershey as the team dropped another game to the Norfolk Admirals (while wearing festive green St. Patrick’s Day sweaters). The team may have dug itself a little too deep to make the playoffs. [Patriot-News, SHoE]
- And speaking of St. Paddy’s sweaters… wow, Reading. Just… wow. [Caps Outsider]
- Kids these days – here’s a quick swing around Capitals Prospectville:
- The Erie Otters wrapped up their regular season by clinching third place in the OHL’s Western Conference with an 8-4 win over the Sarnia Sting. Andre Burakovsky was named second star of the game with 2 goals and 3 assists. His regular season stats are pretty awesome and are available here.
- Congratulations are in order for Madison Bowey and the Kelowna Rockets, who finished their season as WHL regular season champs. Captain Bowey had an absolutely monster year on the Rockets’ blueline, and was fortunate to escape serious injury when he was cut on the arm by a skate blade early in the team’s final regular season game.
- Chandler Stephenson captained the Regina Pats to the WHL East Division title, and was his team’s top scorer. Now if he could just get a contract from the Caps…]
- Jaynen Rissling and the Calgary Hitmen will have the Kootenay Ice as their first-round playoff opponents. Jaynen was named the team’s co-Husky Energy Top Defenceman and is quite possibly modeling his game after John Erskine.
- Garrett Haar and the Portland Winterhawks are also headed to the playoffs, with the Vancouver Giants their first-round oponent. If you ever wanted to check out a junior hockey player’s billet, hear’s your chance. Garrett’s is pretty sweet.
- Also, congratulations to Cap-for-nine-games Scott Walker, who guided the Guelph Storm to their regular-season OHL championship. Well done, Metro Ranger. [Guelph Storm]
- Stanislav Galiev spent part of the weekend in the Hershey pressbox, and the other part on the fourth line. Welp. [THW]
- Here’s a roundup of the college kiddies. [RMNB]
- Finally, happy 17th of March to Dick Patrick, Patrick McNeill, Patrick Koudys, Patrick Wey, Patrik Augusta, Patrick Boileau, Pat Elynuik, Patrice Lefebvre, Craig Patrick, Pat Peake, Pat Ribble and Pat Riggin.