Early skate tonight Because it's the Cup. Which reminds me an awful lot of this video:
Also, I'll be using "because it's the Cup" as the reason for everything I do over the next two months. Who's with me?
Here's some idle pre-game thoughts:
The Campbell line is back together. I don't know why I feel like that'll be a big deal, but I feel like that'll be a big deal.
Hunter might be trying to pull a Julien by making the "second" line the team's most dangerous (Chimera-Backstrom-Semin). But Boston's second line is as good as they are because of their commitment to defense and ability to turn bad mistakes into transition offense. Don't see that coming from anyone playing with Semin.
Dany Sabourin is backing up Braden Holtby. While that in itself is good for a laugh, it also shows that neither Michael Neuvirth nor Thomas Vokoun are ready for game action. Could be trouble for the Caps if that doesn't change soon.
Here's tonight's projected lines, per Fluto:
Projected Bruins lineup:
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Rich Peverley
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Brian Rolston
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn ThorntonZdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Greg Zanon-Joe CorvoTim Thomas
Anton KhudobinHealthy scratches: Jordan Caron, Mike Mottau
Projected Capitals lineup:
Alex Ovechkin-Brooks Laich-Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera-Nicklas Backstrom-Alexander Semin
Matt Hendricks-Jay Beagle-Marcus Johansson
Keith Aucoin-Mathieu Perreault-Joel WardKarl Alzner-John Carlson
Jeff Schultz-Dennis Wideman
Roman Hamrlik-Mike GreenBraden Holtby
Dany SabourinHealthy scratches: Dmitry Orlov, Mike Knuble, Cody Eakin