Q1: What three players need to step up their game for the Washington Capitals in their opening-round series against the Rangers?
J.P.: I’m going to cop out here and say it’s less about individuals being better (though I’d sure like to see more from Tom Wilson, Max Pacioretty and Connor McMichael) and more about the team playing as well as they did against Boston and Tampa in the last week. Outside of Charlie Lindgren, this is the least individual-dependent Caps team we’ve seen in the Ovechkin Era (owing, of course, to Ovi coming back to the pack a bit), but if anyone wants to turn into John Druce for two weeks, now would be a good time.