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Bruins vs. Capitals 1/30/21 PREVIEW: Oh hey, a non-pennsylvania team!

ARE YOU READY TO GET SICK OF TOM WILSON’S BULLS#!T ALL OVER AGAIN!?

By SkyonAir
Boston Bruins v Washington Capitals Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images

Just the Facts:

The Time: 7pm EST

The Place: CapitalOne Arena, Washington DC

Place to Watch: NESN, ESPN+

Place to Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Opposing SBNation Blog: Japers Rink

Know Your Enemy:

  • The Caps are the leaders of the East Division for the time being, with 13 points, a 5-0-3 record, and
  • Your leader in goals for the Caps is tied with Niklas Backstrom, and local coprophage Tom Wilson, both have 4. Backstrom also leads the team in points with 10 in 8 games.
  • Zdeno Chara scored his first goal as a Cap the other day, and was promptly well-celebrated. He himself has 3 points in 8 games.
  • It appears the Caps are going with their local Czech in goal, as Vitek Vanicek has taken the lion’s share of starts so far. He has a .915 SV% in 6 starts.

Game Preview:

After a 4-game homestand resulting in 4 wins straight, the Boston Bruins are back out on the open(ish) road to face the Caps, who are coming off a wild 6-3 victory over the Islanders where they came back from 3-1.

Naturally, this game is the biggest litmus test of the early season. While Pittsburgh and Philly are going through their own little psychosis and will eventually rebound, it’s clear that Boston still runs the show for the most part, and can pretty easily hang on to 2nd place in this division. Whether or not they can take the first place spot however, relies solely on how they handle the Capitals. who have yet to lose a single game in regulation, even without Ovechkin hogging up goal-scoring like he has in year’s past. Combine that with the return of Zdeno Chara to Boston TV screens, and we can only speculate on just how hot the taeks will get in the wake of their first couple of shifts with him on the ice.

Further, on the Bruins’ side, the injury wheel has spoken, and Matt Grzelcyk will be drawing out once again. However, it’s been long rumored that they will actually be getting a body back from Injured Reserve, something that seems more and more like a far-flung dream as time goes by, in the form of David Pastrnak. The big question seems to be...when will he return? Will he feel good today, and be set to make his debut? Or will Bruce and the trainers hang back, and wait until Monday to let him loose? Further, what will the lines look like if he returns? It makes the lines for this game feel like a Christmas present in a way.

Let’s just hope it’s something we asked for.

As always, the answers to all questions posed are for us to find out tonight! Tune in!