Tuesday Caps Clips: Sammy’s First Shutout

Your savory breakfast links:

• Get a glimpse of what lies ahead in a Metro-heavy week for the Caps. [Rink]
• Recaps and other assorted musings on last night’s win from us, Vogs, Caps video (Reirden, locker room, recap), NHL, AP, WaPo, NBCSW (and again), NoVa Caps, RMNB, and Canes Country.
• Congrats to Ilya Samsonov on picking up his first career shutout (and the team’s first shutout of the season)!

• Congratulations are also in order for Samsonov’s fellow countryman Alex Ovechkin - no stranger to milestones - for officially moving into 11th all-time in goals scored:

• Jakub Vrana is a very confident player, but not yet satisfied with where his game is. [WCP]
• Perhaps his recent promotion to the team’s top power-play unit will help - and will likely provide a nice complement to his elite five-on-five performance. [RMNB]
• As the season hurdles toward the All-Star break, players are focusing on striking the right balance between remaining sharp and resting the body. [WaPo]
• The AHL season is also about halfway done - take a look at some of the pluses and minuses for the Bears so far in the 2019-20 campaign. [NoVa Caps]
• Sources say that there could be an exciting new element at this year’s All-Star weekend: a three-on-three scrimmage between top American and Canadian women. [ESPN]
• Saturday’s loss had plenty of things causing concern; here is a condensed list of just five. [StarsandSticks]
• Too early to start talking about playoff races and scenarios? Nah... [BSH]
• Handing out the three stars of the Caps’ week. [StarsandSticks]
• Finally, happy 50th birthday to Eric Charron, happy 55th to our pal Alan May, and the happiest of birthdays to our founder, JP, who turns... well, let’s go with a youthful 25.