Episode 26: Caps-Canes First Round Preview (Special Guest Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic)

The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir joins the Family Faceoff crew to preview the Caps’ first round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. PLUS, Tarik tells a story about “The Goal” Ovechkin scored his rookie season that you won’t want to miss (it involves a kiss and Wayne Gretzky). Topics include: the playoff seeding came right down to the wire (1:27), Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour could win the Jack Adams Award (3:31), Caps need to ensure Hurricanes don’t score on their high danger chances (5:02), how important is the right/left setup? (6:46), Carolina players to watch (9:30), the Capitals scoring depth (10:37), Alex Ovechkin is, wait for it, very good at hockey (12:02), did Alex Ovechkin blow Gretzky a kiss? (14:19), are the Caps flying under the radar? (15:38), differences in team mentality this year compared to last year (17:31), will the Carolina storm surge carry into the postseason? (21:26), Caps-Hurricanes first round predictions (23:17) and Eastern Conference first round predictions (24:04).