Good Friday morning, Caps fans. Hope you all are having a lovely week and that you get a well-deserved break this weekend.

For the second time this year, the Whitecaps will square off against an Eastern Conference opponent. And NYCFC represents a fairly stiff test. Outside of Seattle and San Jose, this is likely the toughest team the Caps have played all year.

For context, NYCFC sit second in the East. And while they have played some bad teams, they still have taken advantage of those plum matchups. Despite not having a clear-cut striker, they are a strong offensive team, led by Maxi Moralez and Nicolas Fernandez. I’m not sure who the Caps have to pay off to get on the Walmart Saturday Showdown ™, but this is set to be the best game on Saturday night across the entire league.

The good news for Vancouver is that they will have Andres Cubas available. The injury luck hasn’t been good lately, but this is a rare win on that front. Cubas may not start but, even if he could come off the bench, it will be a big boost to help neutralize an NYCFC midfield that has been stout this season and which is important to the Pigeons’ ability to control the game.

The flip side is that the Caps have lost another centerback, with Sebastian Schonlau picking up an injury at some point. The severity is unclear, but it is a disappointment for the German, who has never been able to stay healthy during his tenure in Vancouver. It is harsh, but I wonder if he will be a buyout candidate in the summer. Belal Halbouni and Ranko Veselinovic are nearing fitness, which will likely push Schonlau down the depth chart even further.

It is still wild that the Caps are a big team that other big teams fear playing, but that will be the case on Saturday night. They will need to be more clinical than they were against Portland and clean up some of the mistakes that have cost them in the last two matches. This, however, will be a match well worth watching.

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