Tuesday Caps Clips: Prepping for the Playoffs

Your savory breakfast links:

• It’s time to get to know some of the enemies on the Islanders’ bench. [Rink (Barzal, Pulock)]
• Previewing the opening series between the Capitals and Islanders... [NHL, NoVa Caps]
• ...and widening the focus to the entire Eastern Conference and the first round as a whole. [NHL, ESPN, AP, Rotoworld, NoVa Caps]
• Look back at a long, often bitter and sometimes violent playoff history between the Caps and Isles. [LHH]
• Current and former teammates and coaches agree that Ilya Kovalchuk is still like a big, talented kid - and now that 37-year-old kid has a shot at a Cup. [WaPo]
• Both of the head coaches want you to know that this series isn’t Todd Reirden vs. Barry Trotz (...but come on, it kind of is). [NBCSW]
• Braden Holtby used the pause as an opportunity to fix some things in his game - and now he’s getting hot at the right time. [NBCSW, WashTimes]
• After missing all of the round-robin tournament with a leg injury, John Carlson is “making some steps in the right direction”. So... yeah. [NHL, NBCSW]
• Lars Eller is back in the bubble and could be cleared by tomorrow, but not having skated in a week may keep him out of the lineup for at least a game. [NBCSW]
• News and previews from the other side. [Newsday (and again), NY Post (and again)]
• Hear from coach and players after Monday’s practice in Toronto. [Caps video (Reirden, Oshie, Backstrom/Orlov)]
• Another round of COVID tests, another complete absence of positive tests. Here’s how the NHL has kept the bubble intact (so far). [ESPN]
• A few leftovers from Sunday’s round-robin finale. [Caps]
• Finally, take one last look back at an eventful - if not exactly successful - round-robin tournament:

Bring on the Islanders.