Your savory breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings on last night’s win over the Flyers from Vogs, Monumental (video: Oates, Grabovski, Perreault, Wilson, Carrick; game pictures), NHL.com (with highlights), AP, WaPo, CSNW, Frankovic, DSP, Philly.com (with pics), and CSN Philly.
- Tom Wilson and Eric Fehr continued to stand out with big, opportunistic performances against the Flyers… [WaPo]
- …which for Wilson meant not only scoring a goal off a slick pass from Mikhail Grabovski, but also making Brayden Schenn bleed in yet another fight-filled melee of a game. [RMNB]
- Grabovski also sported a bloodied face after taking a high hit from a “less insane” Zac Rinaldo that did not impress the Caps. What say you – dirty? Clean? Borderline? [Puck Daddy, CSNW, RMNB]
- A preview of tonight’s preseason finale in the Windy City from Vogs, and be sure to check back in with our SB Nation pals over at Second City Hockey for the other side of tonight’s game.
- Looking ahead to the season, three big questions facing the Caps in 2013-14 (and keep an eye out for SB Nation’s snazzy season preview coming up on Monday). [Rink]
- With just two days remaining to whittle down the roster by at least six, the Caps have some decisions to make – particularly on the blue line, where Tyson Strachan might just be the answer. [CSNW, RMNB]
- They’ll also need to settle on some sort of combinations for those bottom two lines, which are jam-packed and a bit jumbled at the moment. [NHL.com]
- Using Hockey Prospectus projections to determine who the top playmakers will be this season. [ESPN ($)]
- Meanwhile up in Hershey:
- The Bears opened up their preseason slate with a dominant 6-0 win over the Utica Comets, which included a 25-save shutout by David Leggio, a goal by Tyler Ruegsegger and a fight by Cameron Schilling. [Patriot-News (and again)
- Leggio has an awesome new mask with a chocolate Mt. Rushmore on it. Because what else would it have? [RMNB]
- The NHL’s realignment plan didn’t just put the Caps back among old “friends” – it also changed playoff seeding and added a wild card. Confused? The Explainer explains. [CBC]
- Alex Ovechkin is one of five players to watch in the 2013-14 season; of course, we always think he’s one to watch, but that’s just us. [Reuters]
- Speaking of Ovechkin, he’s off to Greece for a whirlwind weekend of Olympic torch relay festivities; our own Emily offers some helpful advice on embracing the torch-y goodness. [Rink]
- Lots of former Cap news:
- After having a blood clot in his leg removed, Tomas Vokoun is pondering retirement in the face of near-death… or he’s actually doing okay and is not pondering retirement at all. It’s probably one of the two. [Pensburgh, Post-Gazette]
- From one former Caps goalie to another, Jose Theodore is on his way to the KHL after signing a one-year deal with Avangard Omsk. [PHT]
- David Steckel has been released from his pro tryout contract with the Wild and will likely sign an AHL deal with Iowa as he waits for another NHL opportunity. Best of luck, Stecks. [Star Tribune]
- Four days remaining until opening night, which brings us to Beryllium… and a now-former Cap. [Peerless]
- Vegas odds have the Caps at 20-1 to win the Cup. I don’t know what you’re planning to do with your winnings, guys, but I’m buying a pony. [Caps Outsider]
- Finally, happy 60th birthday to Doug Gibson.