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- The NHL released every first round matchup schedule yesterday, including the Caps-Bruins series that starts on Saturday night. [Rink]
- Continue getting to know a few players from Beantown whose faces will soon be very familiar. [Rink (Reilly, Hall)]
- The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell joined Greg on the latest episode of Japers’ Rink Radio for a playoff preview. [Rink]
- How do you solve a problem like “Perfection”? [Rink]
- A storyline to watch this round: former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara facing his old team in a playoff series. [WaPo ($), Athletic ($)]
- Some notes from yesterday’s morning skate, including updates on John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Ilya Samsonov. [NHL, NoVa Caps (and again), Caps video (Laviolette, Carlson, Vanecek), and NBCSW.
- In a secretive move, Laviolette and the Capitals are not announcing the starting goalie before Game 1 on Saturday. [WaPo, NoVa Caps]
- Speaking of goalies, Coach Laviolette could be part of the solution. [WaPo ($)]
- Some more series preview information from NHL Network, RMNB, NBCSW (and again but in podcast form), Athletic (and again), S+S, and Sportsnet.
- Before the craziness of the playoffs begins, take a moment to just...appreciate the Caps. [NBCSW]
- A panel of an anonymous NHL exec, coach, player, and scout ranked every playoff team. [Athletic ($)]
- Should Vitek Vanecek be the starter for Round 1? [S+S]
- An excellent breakdown of every first round series that will help you fill out your bracket. [ESPN+]
- Carl Hagelin is more than ready for another postseason run. [WUSA9]
- The NHL announced yesterday that they will debut new advanced analytics during the playoffs this year. [NoVa Caps]
- What happened the last time the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins met in the playoffs? [S+S]
- This goaltender confidence index for the playoffs does not make the Capitals look great. [ESPN+]
- There are several players, coaches, and GMs across the league in the hot seat right now, including Evgeny Kuznetsov. [Athletic ($)]
- In the world of Sportsnet’s power rankings, there are contenders and then there are pretenders. [Sportsnet]
- The Seattle Kraken plan to hire their first head coach before the expansion draft. [AP]
- Finally, happy 53rd birthday to Steve Seftel!