Saturday Caps Clips: Predators @ Capitals Game Day

Your savory breakfast links:

• Previews of today’s midday matchup against the Preds from Vogs, NHL.com, WaPo, AP, and be sure to check out our SB Nation pals over at On the Forecheck (starting with their game preview) for the other side of today’s game.
  • In case you’ve forgotten (ha!), the Preds have some kid on their roster who is decent at hockey and is sort of familiar to Caps fans. *sigh* [CSNW, USA Today]
• With four Caps’ prospects (hopefully) participating, it’s time to brush up on your Frozen Four info. [CBS Sports, RMNB, Stars and Sticks]
• Alex Ovechkin is three goals away from hitting the 50-goal plateau for the sixth time in ten years, and making his case for the NHL’s MVP. [TSN (Dreger)]
• Of course, because there always has to be one bitter asshat contrarian in the bunch, here’s why Ovechkin is not all that good at hockey. Or something. [Toronto Star]
• A few leftovers from Thursday night’s win over the Devils… [WaPo (and again), RMNB, CSNW, ]
• …that almost wasn’t, and not just because of the Caps’ play in the second half. Better fix those boards, VC crew. [CSNW]
• After getting in some practice time with the Bears, Dmitry Orlov was officially assigned to Hershey on a conditioning loan… and immediately picked up two assists in his first action. [Caps, WaPo, Stars and Sticks, Patriot-News (and again)]
• Curtis Glencross has made a pretty decent career for himself, and no one’s more surprised by it than Curtis Glencross. [WaPo]
• Sure, the first name that pops into one’s head when they hear the word “diver” is Tom Wilson. [WaPo, CSNW, Puck Daddy, AP, Stars and Sticks]
• Diver or not, Wilson is still one of the most physically dominant players in the NHL. [The Score]
• The Caps have been dominant at four-on-four. [Stars and Sticks]
• But do they need to change things up at five-on-five before the playoffs get underway? [CSNW]
• The last time the South Carolina Stingrays lost a game was January 30. Since then? 23 straight wins (20 in regulation) in which they’ve outscored opponents 100-35. Unreal. [ECHL, Post and Courier, PostBulletin]
• Keeping an eye on a few more franchise records within the reach of Alex Ovechkin. [Caps Outsider]
• Ovi, meet Messi. Messi, meet RGIII. RGIII, meet Ovi. [Monumental (with video), WaPo, Sport.es, NHL.com, The Score, RMNB]
• Happy 43rd birthday to Jan Benda, and happy 57th to Loooouuuuu Franceschetti.
• Finally, be sure to check out the DC Hockey Analytics Conference on April 11, featuring (among others) a couple of Rink Illuminati. Numbers! Hooray! [Georgetown SCS]