Your savory breakfast links:
- Previews of today’s Game 2 matinee from Vogs, NHL.com, AP, Stars and Sticks, and be sure to check out our fellow SB Nation peeps over at Blueshirt Banter for the other side of today’s matchup.
- One more look back at a thrilling Game 1 win. [Dump ‘n Chase, WaPo, THW, ESPN]
- What worked, what didn’t, and what we can take away from the game. [Rink, Stars and Sticks]
- Joel Ward: Playoff hero? Yes. Unlikely playoff hero? Um… [Men’s Journal]
- After hitting the post earlier in the game, Ward made up for it – big time – with that last-second game-winner. [WaPo]
- News and notes from yesterday’s – surprise! – off-day:
- In general. [Monumental video (Trotz, Ovechkin, Brouwer, Orpik, Alzner]
- A new focus on both ends of the ice have Alex Ovechkin in the Selke conversation. Well…maybe not, but he has become a better two-way player. [WaPo, ESPN, National Post, Canada.com]
- He’s also just seriously, ridiculously talented, and it’s unfair. [Deadspin, NHL.com]
- Barry Trotz has his new squad playing on an even keel. [NHL.com]
- Together, Trotz and Ovechkin have proven to be a powerful combo – and it all started over dinner in Las Vegas last summer. [CSNW, THW]
- Newsflash: Ovechkin’s performance under Trotz is just more of the same for a guy who has time and again done exactly what his coaches have asked… and rarely gotten credit for it. [NHL.com]
- Trotz rewarded his crew for a hard-working win with a surprise day off in Manhattan. [WaPo, WashTimes]
- Little Marcus Johansson has become a big physical force in the playoffs. [WaPo]
- Braden Holtby is just really, really good at being a hockey goalie. [Rink, FanPost]
- John Fogerty plus Alex Ovechkin mixed with a hint of Abraham Lincoln equals a mystery for the ages. [WaPo, The Big Lead]
- There’s a lot of smooching going on these days, and it’s fantastic. [WaPo]
- There’s also a wee bit of smack talk going on, which is also fantastic. [WaPo]
- And from the New York state of mind:
- How the Rangers can beat the Caps. [NY Post]
- If the Rangers want to stop Alex Ovechkin – or at least not let him run their show – they should focus more on matchups and less on shadowing him. [Blue Seat Blogs]
- Rangers’ coach Alain Vigneault isn’t too happy with his team, and wants them to fix some of the mistakes they made last game. [NHL.com]
- Don’t expect New York to sit idly by and let the Caps be the aggressors. [NHL.com, NY Times]
- Just in case you didn’t remember from the Caps’ first-round matchup… the New York media is really, really easy to piss off. Just invoke the name of Mark Messier. [CBS DC, NY Daily News]
- Rick Nash has six goals in 22 career playoff games and for some reason people don’t think that’s a lot of goals. Weird. [Too Many Men on the Site]
- More on The Hit:
- So. Much. Whining. [Peerless, WaPo, WashTimes, NY Post, NJ.com, NorthJersey.com]
- Thankfully, Dan Boyle is okay after that vicious, premeditated, Satanic hit by Nicklas Backstrom (but we really are glad he’s okay). [NHL.com]
- Caution: hot takes and Mike Milbury thoughts – yes, plural – ahead. [WaPo]
- But really, what happened to the Rangers on that buzzer-beating goal by Ward? [PHT, The Score, THW]
- Ex-ref Kerry Fraser weighs in on Chris Kreider’s curious tendency to spontaneously lose the ability to skate whenever he nears the other team’s goalie. [TSN]
- Winds of change are blowing in DC. Don’t be scared. [WaPo]
- Can the Caps afford to bring Joel Ward back next season? [CSNW]
- Five reasons why the Caps can beat the Rangers. [Bleacher Report]
- Gone are the days of other teams pushing the Caps around and beating them up; today, the Caps are the bullies – and it’s making them a tough opponent. [CBS DC]
- Farm report:
- Congrats to the Hershey Bears, who put up ten goals – TEN GOALS – on the Worcester Sharks in their series-clinching victory. On to Round 2! [Caps, Patriot-News]
- Check out Madison Bowey throwing a massive hit that lands his opponent in the camera bay. [Buzzing the Net]
- The Caps have issued a playoff ticket fraud alert, reminding all to be careful of where they purchase tickets to the upcoming home games. [Caps, CSNW]
- This will be the greatest sports day EVER. And it’s only like 99% because there’s a Caps game today. [CBS News, LA Times, The Big Lead]
- The renewal of the Caps-Rangers rivalry hearkens back to one of the great moments in Caps-Rangers history. Get those bongos ready. [Grantland (DGB)]
- The HoltBeard is strong. [Puck Daddy]
- Finally, happy 36th birthday to Jason Chimera – and a reminder of how he celebrated his 34th birthday: