Thursday Caps Clips: Capitals @ Red Wings Game Day

Your savory breakfast links:

• Previews and other important info for tonight’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings from Vogs, Peerless, and AP, and don’t forget to follow our SB Nation pals over at Winging It In Motown for coverage from behind enemy lines.
• A few notes from yesterday’s practice, including updated lines with injuries in mind. [WHN, Caps video (Coach Laviolette, Fucale, Sheary)]
• After placing Nic Dowd on IR (again), the Washington Capitals recalled forward Aliaksei Protas and goalie Zach Fucale from Hershey yesterday. [Caps, WaPo ($), NoVa Caps, RMNB, S+S]
• The Caps also reassigned Hendrix Lapierre to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, his QMJHL team. [Caps, WHN, NoVa Caps, S+S]
• Zach Fucale might have one heck of an opportunity on his hands this week. [WHN, NoVa Caps, RMNB]
• Speaking of goalies, take a look at how Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov have fared through the first 12 games of the season. [NoVa Caps]
• Three important observations of the season so far. [S+S]
• The Caps are heading to Detroit running on milestone adrenaline and good vibes. [THW]
• Connor McMichael could benefit from more ice time, which looks to be on the horizon because of injuries to other forwards. [S+S]
• Dave Andreychuk figured Alex Ovechkin would eclipse his all-time PPG record eventually, and he’s having just as much fun as the rest of us are watching Ovi climb up the leaderboard. [NHL]
• Ovi was off to a scorching start this season and has yet to cool down. [Yahoo]
• The Hershey Bears, who are missing several key players due to NHL call-ups, had a tough time in Lehigh Valley last night. [NoVa Caps]
• Finally, happy 67th birthday to Michel Bergeron and happy 49th birthday to Steve Konowalchuk!