The Narrative: Morning Skate Update, One and Done? and You Can Pick Your Friends.
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1. Morning Skate Update
No new information, really, from this morning’s skate (though there appears to be good news on the T.J. Oshie front):
T.J. Oshie (lower-body) will be a game-time decision tonight for Game 1 vs Boston, per Laviolette. Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 15, 2021
But.
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Mantha
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
Everyone accounted for other than Kuznetsov and Samsonov, who remain in COVID-19 protocol. Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 15, 2021
He’s in (and it looks like Sheary-Eller-Raffl is primed to face the Bergeron line, as we’d suggested). And speaking of in.
The Narrative: The Old Man and the Zee, Mystery Goalie and Injury Update
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1. The Old Man and the Zee
Zdeno Chara has played 1,608 NHL regular-season games and another 195 playoff matches. The entire Bruins blueline that is expected to skate in Saturday night’s Game 1 of the Caps/Bruins first-round series has played 1,480 games in the regular-season and 169 more in the playoffs. And, of course, Big Zee played 1,023/150 of those games in Boston’s black and gold.
Apparently that’s a storyline.
Zdeno Chara was Boston’s leader. As the Caps’ Cup pursuit begins, he must face his former team.
Capitals vs Flyers Recap: Caps Finish Season Series Against Flyers With 2-1 OT Win
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Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images
Alex Ovechkin. Nicklas Backstrom. John Carlson. Evgeny Kuznetsov. Ilya Samsonov. Is that a list of Washington Capitals’ stars? Maybe, but it is also a list of players who are unavailable for the Caps tonight! Fun fact, the last time the Capitals played a game without Ovechkin, Backstrom, Carlson, and Kuznetsov was on January 31, 2006 Ovechkin missed the game and the other three weren’t on the roster yet. Fun times! With all of these absences, here’s what the lines looked like during warmups tonight:
Silver Linings Versus the Black and Gold
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Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images
If you’re not one for process over results, you may want to skip this post. That’s fine - we’ve got plenty of other great content that might be more your speed. But if you are able to appreciate some lovely trees in an otherwise unattractive forest, let’s talk about last night’s game.
Yes, it always sucks to lose to the Penguins. Always, always, always. Always. (And especially after blowing two leads during the game.)
And getting an unlikely point thanks to a six-on-five goal (after Kris Letang rang the iron on the empty cage at the other end of the ice) to clinch a playoff spot was obviously better than nothing.
Ice Chips: Canucks F Lind to make NHL debut
Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.
TSN.ca Staff John Carlson , Getty Images
Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips
Vancouver Canucks
Head coach Travis Green confirmed that forward Kole Lind will make his NHL debut tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 22-year-old has five goals and eight points in eight games with AHL Utica this season. The Canucks selected Lind in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.