Your savory breakfast links:
- Recaps of a loss from us, Vogs (plus game notes), Monumental video (Trotz, Holtby, Niskanen, Glencross, Ovechkin, AV, NYR room, 40th Anniversary tribute – Adam Oates), NHL.com, AP, WaPo (gamer, blog), CSNW (gamer, blog), Frankovic, DSP (plus three stars), Caps Outsider, RMNB and from the Rangers‘ end of the ice, Blueshirt Banter and NYPost.
- Get well soonest, Jay Beagle. [RMNB, Bleacher Report]
- Alex Ovechkin‘s first period goal marked his 45th of the season, elevating him further into the rarefied air of the historically elite goal scorers, as he became only the 5th player in NHL history to notch 45 goals in each of seven seasons. Make room, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and Marcel Dionne. [TVA Sports]
- Stone cold robbery – Cam Talbot flat stole one from Nick Backstrom. [Eye on Hockey]
- News and notes from yesterday’s pregame skate:
- In general. [Dump ‘n Chase, Monumental video (Two-Man Advantage, Caps Report, Trotz, Ovechkin, Carlson, Green)]
- Oh hai there Nate Schmidt. Welcome back! And you brought your buddy Cam Schilling with you? That’s prob’ly not good news, though we like you both lots. [WaPo, Patriot-News]
- The pre-game skinny – Mike Green out, Brooks Orpik a game-time decision (but not really), Nick Backstrom receiving IV fluids but expected to play. [WaPo, Eye on Hockey]
- The Caps are bringing the heavy this year. [NHL.com]
- Tim Gleason joins Braden Holtby in using pre-game visualization routines. [WaPo]
- Where have all the power plays gone? Whistles and scoring are down across the League. [Eye on Hockey]
- Advanced stats for the Caps’ previous two games, vs. Minny and at Lumbus. [Stars and Sticks]
- Caleb Graham‘s Make-a-Wish trip from Alaska to meet the Caps and Braden Holtby began with a delay flying into DC while Air Force One was prepping for takeoff. [Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]
- All the personnel changes in DC had a trickle-down effect in Hershey which allowed Andre Burakovsky to get in some time on the Caps’ preferred wing, but the Bears faltered in their own Rivalry game, losing to the Baby Pens 5-3. [Patriot-News]
- Stanislav Galiev is finally finding some traction. [HF]
- And Steve Oleksy in squirrel-form is taking it to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Wait, what? [Patriot-News, Eye on Hockey, Puck Daddy]
- St. Louis’ Kevin Shattenkirk reports that he has been able to begin skating again after his behind-the-net encounter with Alex Ovechkin landed him in the hospital for abdominal surgery, and this is a good thing, because his injury was pretty horrifying. [NHL.com]
- Happy 37th birthday to Brent Johnson and happy 46th to Tyler Larter.
- Finally, the Rink adds its fond farewell and best wishes for Adam Vingan as he sets the GPS for Nashville and his new gig as Preds beat reporter for the Tennessean. This Clips editor will miss linking his work, at least until March 28, when NSH pays a visit to the Phone Booth. It’s been a privilege, Adam.