Your savory breakfast links:
- Strong performances in recent measuring-stick games has the Caps feeling confident, and with good reason. [Rink]
- How have the 2014-15 Caps done when it comes to playing power-versus-power? [Rink]
- Previews of tonight’s tussle with Toronto from Vogs, NHL.com, Peerless, Toronto Star and Toronto Sun, and be sure to check out the other side of tonight’s match-up with the happiest of blogs today and our SB Nation pals, Pension Plan Puppets.
- The Caps will be facing a team under new leadership after the Leafs dismissed coach Randy Carlyle yesterday. [Puck Daddy, CP, CSNW]
- Five questions with the enemy. [Stars and Sticks]
- Winter Classic leftovers:
- Check out recaps of, and other thoughts on, the final episode of the EPIX series Road to the Winter Classic, which aired last night. [Rink, NHL.com, DSP, RMNB, Sportsnet]
- The dynamic duo of Tom Wilson and Michael Latta took over the Caps’ Twitter account during the episode last night… and if you missed it, go back and read their tweets because they’re gold. [Caps OT, @washcaps]
- They may be glad that the cameras are finally gone, but the Caps have nothing but good things to say about the experience and the crew that spent the last month with them. [CSNW]
- Meanwhile, Braden Holtby also had nothing but good things to say about the Winter Classic experience in general. [NHL.com (video)]
- Alas, that awesome Capitol building that adorned the outfield is no more. [WaPo]
- A healthy Brooks Laich is a beautiful thing. Indeed. [RMNB]
- News and notes from yesterday at Kettler:
- Jack Hillen has gained respect from teammates and coaches alike this year for staying prepared and having a good attitude despite being a frequent healthy scratch. [WaPo, NBC4]
- Also staying ready? Justin Peters, who is trying to prepare for his next outing in net without knowing when it will be – or where. [WaPo, CSNW]
- After suffering a lower-body injury against the Panthers, Matt Niskanen traveled with the team to Toronto but his status for the game is still uncertain. [NBC4]
- Barry Trotz has been playing “mad scientist” with the Caps’ top line, with Andre Burakovsky just the latest candidate to fill the spot alongside Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. [Pressbox DC]
- The long-term plan may still be to turn Burakovsky into a center, but that plan is on hold in the short-term while they work on other aspects of his game. [WaPo]
- Congrats to Caps’ prospect Madison Bowey, who returns to his hometown of Winnipeg fresh off of Canada’s gold medal victory at the World Juniors. [CBC, NHL.com, Patriot-News]
- Ranking the powerful and the Caps’ place among them, with special attention paid to the Winter Classic win as a potential springboard. [CBS Sports, Stars and Sticks]
- Take a second, deeper look at the events and numbers behind the Caps’ win over the Panthers on Sunday. [Litter Box Cats]
- Very cool news that the NHL will be enlisting the new player-tracking technology at the upcoming All-Star Game in Columbus, moving one step closer to eliminating the manual tracking of real-time stats. [Sportsnet]
- Finally, happy 50th birthday to Yves Beaudoin, happy 43rd to Donald Brashear, happy 49th to Randy Burridge, happy 59th to Mike Liut, and happy 47th to Mike Rosati.