2015 Winter Classic will be the Capitals and ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. —

The Chicago Blackhawks (again). I love the Winter Classic. I am glad the Caps will play in it in a beautiful baseball stadium (Nationals Park). But the Hawks again? Really?

Nationals Park will host the 2015 NHL Winter Classic.

Don’t get me wrong -- I understand the need for a strong TV draw -- and the Hawks will provide that. But given the number of teams that have not yet had an outdoor game, this is somewhat disappointing.

Emery is somehow third star in disgraceful game last night in Philly, suspension better follow

Ray Emery

I can't even fathom how it's possible that those who pick the Three Stars of the Game in Philly picked Ray Emery as the game's third star. The man put on a disgraceful display in goal -- and them attacked Braden Holtby in the third period of the game last night against Washington. And somehow, the buffoons who pick the stars -- likely the Philly media -- saw it fit to reward him for his pitiful performance by awarding his a star.

Brendan Shanahan

I've seen homerism first-hand. Lord knows, we get it nightly from Chico Resch. But this is simply disgraceful. To award a goon a star after that kind of performance is pitiful -- and those who voted for him to get the star should have their credentials revoked forever.

His save percentage in the game was .772 -- and he literally jumped Holtby who wanted nothing to do with a fight!

I hope Brendan Shanahan was watching.

Seeing him on a video later this weekend would be about the only thing that could make up for this absolute embarrassment. Emery and his head coach, Craig Berube, who himself often displayed moments of goonerism, should both be suspended -- at least five games.

A few screencaps from today’s Rangers-Caps game

Washington Capitals stupid webshow making fans wait for trade news, all while the hosts have Macs with logos covered by ridiculous black stickers

The Washington Capitals have apparently made a trade — and they're making their fans wait while watching a horrendous web show on the trade. And, you gotta love the covers over the Apple logo on their laptops, as if no one has a clue they're using Macs.

Hmmm ... wonder what's under that black tape on those laptops?

The quirky part of the schedule has arrived: 2 in a row @ Caps

I'm told it's happened elsewhere, but this is the first time I remember it happening to our hockey club.

The next two games — Thursday and Saturday — are both in Washington. If anyone has any memory of playing the same team in the same building two games in a row during the regular season, please let us know here in the comment section. I've been a fan of this team since 1986, and I never remember it happening — ever.

At any rate, this has the potential to be absolutely euphoric (the Caps are in last place) or absolutely disastrous (the Caps are in last place).

Adam Oates 

The way the Devils played Monday, I'd settle for a split — though there's no reason why they shouldn't win both games.

Whilst we're on Washington — how about the curse of being a head coach somewhere after being a Devils' assistant. It certainly didn't work our for our John MacLean two years ago, and it's not working so well for our Adam Oates, either.

Washington, with high expectations at the get-go, is off to a 5-9-1 start, good for 11 points and the basement in the Eastern Conference. I really feel for Oatsie. And hope it turns around for him. But for now, I hope it happens after this week.

This could be a telling few days for our Devils with 2 games coming up this weekend against red-hot Penguins

So the Devils have won three in a row. 

And now, a huge character test is upon them.

The next two games will be against Pittsburgh — at home Saturday (1 p.m. — weather permitting) and on the road Sunday (7:30 p.m. on NBCSN).

The Devs' first trip to Pittsburgh last week was ugly, but they've bounced back nicely since. A split would be nice — but a two-game sweep would speak volumes about this team, a team that has already shut up every critic who picked them to finish anywhere from 9th to 13th in the Eastern Conference.

Also coming up in the next few weeks is something very rare.

The Devils will play two-straight games in Washington —Thursday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 23. I honestly cannot remember a time in the regular season when the Devils played the same team in the same building for two in a row. I understand it's not unprecedented — happened in San Jose a few years back (thanks to Vin Witel for the tip on that one).

The Devils will also play the Islanders for the fourth time on Feb. 16, before they've played Ottawa, Jets, Sabres, Leafs or Panthers for the first time.

Devils-Capitals — Friday, Jan. 25, 2013

NEWARK —

Most other sites bring recaps. We won't do that since everyone else does.

Instead, we'll bring you screen grab photos of the important stuff from tonight — and some of the quirkier sides to the game.

Gamecenter Live gives the home and away broadcasts —so I'll go back and forth from the Caps' cast and Devils' cast. I may be among the minority here, but I really like Joe Benninati behind the mic.

First observation — the snow is going to keep a lot of people away, it appears (early on, at least).

Could the Devils ACTUALLY sell out the entire season? Steak to hit 14 tonight — and it could continue past that

NEWARK —

The Devils sellout streak is likely to hit 14 Friday when the Washington Capitals come to town for a 7 p.m. ET matchup at the Prudential Center.

The team sold out its final home game last regular season, and all 11 home playoff/Finals games. Opening night was also a sellout.

The Prudential Center will likely be sold out for a Devils game for the 14th-consecutive game on Friday night.  The Rock can be an extremely loud and daunting place to play for opponents when it's filled. And, it looks like the streak could go well beyond 14 games, based on ticket availability on Ticketmaster.

Much to my surprise, I now believe this streak could go well beyond 14 games — and it appears possible the Devils could, for the first time in franchise history, sell out the entire regular season. (The Devils' best year in attendance was 1997-98, when they averaged 17,296 a game — 709,160 total fans — for 7th-best in the entire league).

Why?

I took a look at Ticketmaster's pick your seats for the first half of the regular season. And save for one game against the Islanders — which will probably still do well — there are only limited seats available. Most games against the Rangers, Flyers and Penguins are close to sold out already.

This is absolutely remarkable given the lockout. But it's also an indication as to how far this franchise has come — finally — and a lot of it has to be attributed to last year's amazing run.

We'll update this periodically. But for now, it looks very good, attendance-wise.

Finally.