Q1: What three players need to step up their game for the Caps in their opening-round series against the Panthers?
J.P.: Vitek Vanecek (and/or Ilya Samsonov… I’m counting this as one player), Nicklas Backstrom and Martin Fehervary. For the Caps to have any chance in this series, they’re going to need surprisingly competent goaltending, a strong two-way effort from their second line (especially if they’re matched against the Barkov line), and nearly mistake-free hockey from their top-four defensemen. For that to happen, Vanecek, Backstrom and Fehervary (or those guys as a proxy for what I mentioned) will need to be better.