Your savory breakfast links:
- Previews of tonight’s rematch with the Rangers from Vogs (plus game notes), NHL.com, Peerless, FiCP and NVC, and be sure to check out our SB Nation pals over at Blueshirt Banter for the other side of tonight’s matchup.
- Handsome Hank’s terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad night: The Blueshirts are in town on the second game of a back-to-back, having lost 4-1 at Pittsburgh last night. The King gave up up 3 goals on 4 shots in 1:39 of game play, had a bit of a （╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ meltdown, and may have sustained a minor injury when Ryan McDonagh accidentally collided with him. Antti Raanta was in net for the third period and there is no word yet on who’s playing tonight. [CSNMA]
- We’ll learn sometime today if Nate Schmidt will be in the lineup after sitting out the Leafs game with an unspecified shot-blocking injury. [TSS]
- Appreciating Evgeny Kuznetsov, the leading scorer on the League’s best team and an all-around good guy… [WaPo]
- … Bauer Russia certainly appreciates him, having painted a beauty mural of Kuzya at their Moscow HQ. [RMNB]
- Oh hai there Nicklas Backstrom, with the most assists of everybody since 2012. [TSN]
- It’s been a crazy good week for Niskanens – the lobbyist who scored the game-winner in the annual “Lawmakers vs. Lobbyists” hockey game at Kettler was repping the Niskanen Center. [Roll Call]
- The third-quarter grades are in, and the Caps get an A. For Awesome. [CBS Sports]
- So. Many. Babies. It’s been a fruitful week in CapsTown. [WaPo]
- Dmitry Orlov is still growing his game. [WaPo]
- Are the Caps getting enough buzz? With guest cameo by Capsblogger OG Eric Fingerhut. [WCP]
- As David Letterman would say: “For entertainment purposes only; please, no wagering.” [WaPo]
- Meet the Caps’ chaplain. Who kind of looks like Mitch Korn. [WUSA9]
- A few leftover’s from Wednesday’s win vs. the Leafs:
- Postgame notebook. [Dump-n-Chase]
- Rank ’em! [Rink]
- “One does not simply stop Alex Ovechkin.” Steve Dangle knows what’s what. [Sportsnet]
- Only eight NHL coaches have amassed more victories – all-time – than Barry Trotz. Mike Keenan, you are on the clock. [RMNB, CSNMA, NVC]
- Congrats to Marcus Johansson, who has tallied his first child and 400th NHL game this week. [FiCP]
- The last hurrah for Brooks Laich ‘s last hurrah:
- Ted Leonsis and Monumental are going all-in on sports and technology, and technology and sports, and analytics and all kinds of projects. [Upstart, SportTechie, Deadspin]
- Finally, don’t look now but Ilya Samsonov, the Caps’ 2015 first-rounder goalie prospect, just backstopped Metallurg Magnitogorsk to a 5-2 win over Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg and into the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup. Magnitka will face Sibir, with the series starting on March 8. [KHL.ru]