Caps Daily Glass Bump: Pregame 18 December 2015
Photos by Brittney Marcum
No morning skate for the Caps today so we will have to share some more pictures taken at practice yesterday.
Two days after the Caps great win over the Ottawa Senators, the NHL network and media outlets are still talking about Michael Latta and Braden Holtby. Sprinkle in some Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov and the consensus is: the Caps are real cup contenders this year. The Caps are points away from taking the number one spot in the league away from the Dallas Stars—something we haven’t seen from this team in a very long time.
Michael Latta was the darling of Tuesday night with a goal and an assist. He received the third star of the night from the NHL Network and everyone was talking about this hidden jewel on the team. But we knew it all along!!
Talk about Braden Holtby and Vezina Award and even the Hart Trophy continues, as do comparisons to other Caps greats like Olie Kolzig. Tuesday it will be monster goalie against monster goalie when 6’7” Ben Bishop steps into the crease.
We get to celebrate 36 year old Jason Chimera’s 900th NHL game tonight!!!
What About Tampa Bay You Say???
Steven Stamkos (91) leads the Bolts in goals and points, but he hasn’t scored a goal in his last 10 games and surely is looking to snap out of that pattern. Could he do it tonight? 
The next player the Caps should watch out for is Nikita Kucherov (86). Although he only has 12 goals to date; he earned half of them in the last five games, along with an assist. 
And then there is Ben Bishop. Bishop fills up the net and makes it hard for anyone to get around him. He is second in the league with 1.92 goals against average and has a save percentage of 0.931 (7th in the league). However, his wins are less impressive than Holtby: 13/25 compared to 20/25. Either way, it could be another fight between the goalies that determines who skates away with the W.
After tonight the Caps will head to New York to face down the NY Rangers and properly lay claim to the number one spot in the Metropolitan Division. Then they are on to Carolina December 21st before returning home for a post-Christmas game against the Atlantic Division leaders—the Montreal Canadiens.
DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR UPWRAPPED GIFT FOR THE TOY DRIVE TONIGHT.
AND DON’T FORGET TO BRING A LITTLE CHRISTMAS CHEER TO YOUR SECTION USHERS WHO KEEP THE PEOPLE FROM WALKING DOWN DURING PLAY AND THROW OUT ROWDY FANS FROM OPPOSING TEAMS!!